Let the bidding begin for FS+G assets.

Alternate headline: HPT Overbids for Federated Sports+Gaming Assets

On Tuesday, May 8th, All In Productions (AIP), parent company of Heartland Poker Tour (HPT), submitted a bid to the United States Bankruptcy Court in Maryland to buy back their company.

AIP’s bid for HPT is for a total of $1.5M. According to previous court filings, Federated Sports+Gaming (FS+G) owes HPT approximately $1.9M for not completing its acquisition of the company. The $1.5M bid would basically excuse that debt.

AIP’s bid also included a $100,000 offer to acquire the “good” assets associated with FS+G, the parent company of the failed Epic Poker League. Those assets would potentially include the Global Poker Index, production elements associated with the Epic Poker television show, contracts with partners like the Palms, and roughly 100 Wicked-related domain names.

The bid, obviously, does not include the $7M in debt accrued by FS+G in just over a year.

We spoke with a corporate bankruptcy attorney for a better understanding of the filings. Layman’s terms: In bankruptcy, somebody bids on assets of the company–the bidder can choose which assets and obligations they take on moving forward.

Now that a bid has been submitted, there is a 30-day timetable for said bid to be accepted by the bankruptcy court. However, the 30-days will likely be extended as the Judge assigned to the case establishes timetables and procedure for other entities to submit bids. Those bids have to meet a qualifying criteria (detailed in the attached filings). An auction will eventually take place. All qualifying offers must be in place three days before the auction. Eventually, there is a final sale motion where the judge approves the sale(s) to a bidder(s).

The interesting note here is that had FS+G not filed bankruptcy, control of HPT would’ve returned to AIP anyway. AIP is attempting to get back what they would’ve rightfully received (i.e. control of the company again) since FS+G was unable to fulfill the terms of its HPT acquisition.

Whether anyone else gets in on the bidding remains to be seen. We’ve maintained all along that HPT is the only true valuable asset in FS+G’s portfolio. Any substantial bid would likely be to acquire HPT. The Epic brand is simply too tarnished. They don’t own their SMG platform. There’s just not a lot of meat to the Epic bone.

We reached out to representatives of both HPT and FS+G for comment. Neither has responded yet.

Federated — #92 — Motion to Sell Substantially all of Debtors’ Assets

Federated — #93 — Emergency Motion (A) for Order Establishing Bidding Procedures

Federated – #94 — Motion for Expedite Hearing on Emer Motion for Order

Federated Sports — #95 – Order Denying Motion to Expedite Hearing

Federated Sports — #96 – Motion to Expedite Hearing on Emer Motion for Order Establishing Bidding Procedures

Tagged as: Epic Poker, featured, Federated Sports+Gaming, Heartland Poker Tour, Poker News

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