Internet search provider Blucora Inc. (Bellevue, Wash.) will challenge Spencer Spirit Holding Inc. (Egg Harbor, N.J.) in a bid for Brookstone Inc. (Merrimack, N.J.), according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Blucora would merge Brookstone with Monoprice, an online retailer of electronics accessories, which it acquired last year.
Brookstone recently filed for bankruptcy after years of disappointing sales, weak liquidity and a $140 million debt. Last month it was reported that Spencer Spirit would pay $120 million for Brookstone, which is currently owned by J.W. Childs Associates LP (Waltham, Mass.), Osim International Ltd. (Singapore) and Temasek Holdings Pte (Singapore).
While Brookstone completed the bankruptcy filing to facilitate the sale to Spencer Spirit, owner of the Spencer’s retail chain, insiders say Blucora will challenge Spencer’s bid with an all-cash offer at a bankruptcy auction for Brookstone. Blucora owns the search engine WebCrawler as well as TaxAct, an online tax service provider.