NEW YORK — Spiegel Inc. to liquidate? That was the market talk Friday following the bankrupt catalogue retailer’s year-end sales and earnings results.
It was noted in several reports that Michael Otto, whose family owns 89 percent of the company, has been in disagreement with the creditors, who are looking to take over the company if Otto can’t fork over $1.3 billion in money owed.
Spiegel could not be reached for comment.
Thursday, Spiegel filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission a Form 8-K that said the company had a $323.4 million loss on sales of $1.77 billion for the year ended Jan. 3. A year ago, the catalogue firm was the subject of an SEC civil proceeding alleging that its public disclosures violated federal securities laws.
As a result of an investigation by the company, an independent examiner was appointed and subsequently issued a report. Spiegel said in the filing that its management is still “analyzing” the findings in the report. Spiegel also said there are several lawsuits pending against certain current and former officers.
The company also said in the filing that it requested and was granted “extensions of the period in which it has the exclusive right to file a plan of reorganization.” The extension allows the company to file its reorganization plan by May 10, “and the company has reserved its right to seek additional extensions of this period.”