Briggs & Stratton potential bidder Generac objects to sale procedures

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, Aug. 12 – Briggs & Stratton Corp. potential bidder Generac Power Systems, Inc. objected Tuesday to the bid procedures for the proposed sale of Briggs & Stratton’s assets, according to a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

“The proposed timing of this sale, the proposed bid procedures and certain provisions in the proposed debtor-in-possession financing package suggest that the debtors are slouching toward the stalking horse bidder at the expense of value,” the objection said.

“The result is a sale process that is unlikely to maximize value for creditors, is unfair to potential bidders and unreasonably favors the stalking horse bidder.”

In addition to being a potential bidder, Generac said it purchases engines from the Briggs & Stratton debtors and, because some of Briggs & Stratton’s businesses related to power generation, light towers, heaters and commercial lawn and garden products align and complement part of Generac’s business. Generac said that is why it has significant interest in acquiring some of Briggs & Stratton’s assets.

However, Generac said the timeframe for the sale process is “unreasonably compressed,” and it has had a hard time gaining access to due diligence information.

Generac said the bid procedures are also designed for bidders who are interested in purchasing substantially all of Briggs & Stratton’s assets, leaving potential bidders who want to bid on a subset of assets needing to find other bidders who may be interested in submitting a combined bid or risk rejection of their bid for a portion of the assets.

Briggs & Stratton is based in Milwaukee and makes gasoline engines for outdoor power equipment. The company filed bankruptcy on July 20 under Chapter 11 case number 20-43597.

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