May 29, 2009: The bankruptcy process allows the company, its creditors, and ultimately the Court to determine what is in the best interest of the estate. We recognize that Well Fargo, as a critical component of this process, is entitled to state its opinion with regard to our proposed acquisition of the assets of Hartmarx. However, we vehemently object to the blatant distortion of the facts that is occurring so late in the process in an attempt to impact the outcome on Monday.
The only factual component of the Wells Fargo statement today is that they believe they should realize a higher cash return on their claim.
There is a significant gap between their expectations and the reality of where asset valuations are in the current market. Hartmarx ran a sale process that has lasted almost four months before selecting Emerisque as the stalking horse bidder. The fact that the highest bid was selected after such a lengthy process surely tells its own story. The Emerisque bid is fully diligenced, and financing and ability to close are as certain as is possible at this stage of the process and in this environment. Any suggestion otherwise is simply not truthful.
Furthermore, all that a stalking horse does is establish a 'floor' value for an auction. It would appear to us that Wells Fargo prefers a liquidation.
In addition, as the only bidder prepared to operate Hartmarx as a going concern, our commitment to preserving good union jobs and “Made in America" is well documented and unwavering. We will either assume the current collective bargaining agreement, or work with the unions to execute a new agreement on mutually acceptable terms. Any statement implying that we seek to de-unionize the company is patently false, and a clear attempt to deflect union’s criticism and political pressure directed towards Wells Fargo.
We are also concerned that Wells Fargo would manipulate the facts with regard to the financial aspects of this transaction. For example, their discussion around a downward adjustment to the cash consideration fails to disclose that this would be driven only by divestiture of significant assets, which would also mean that the debt would come down.
We are confident that the Bankruptcy Court will appropriately consider the best interest of all stakeholders in review of the highest and best offer, as required under the law. After this exhaustive process, it is clear that the Emerisque is the best and highest bid for the Company. Emerisque deserves to be named the stalking horse on Monday.
About Emerisque
Emerisque, a London-based company, is a private investment firm specializing in acquiring, capitalizing and turning around under-performing medium-sized international consumer branded businesses. Emerisque seeks to create value to its investments by providing portfolio companies with a combination of turnaround and development capital as well as execution resources. The Emerisque founders have managed businesses in the U.S., Asia, Africa and Australia in aggregate value of more than $4.5 billion, have sold businesses valued at more than $4 billion and overseen the management and deployment of more than $13 billion in corporate investments. Their network within the CRIM markets, (China, India, Russia and the Middle East) is unsurpassed in the middle market arena.
