Court approves sale of Carls Patio assets

Clint Engel -- Furniture Today -- Casual Living, 3/7/2013 10:12:44 AM

BOCA RATON, Fla. - A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge has approved the sale of Carls Patio's assets to an investment group tied to the company's previous owner.

According to bankruptcy court records in Delaware, the court approved stalking horse bidder Carls Patio Acquisition's bid to buy the assets for about $4.2 million, including the assumption of certain liabilities. An auction that was scheduled for earlier this month was called off because there were no other qualifying bids.

In a previous release, the Boca Raton, Fla.-based retailer said the acquirer is led by Paul Otowchits, chief operating officer of the 10-store Florida chain, "with investment support from Weinberg Capital Group of Cleveland."

Otowchits will be named president of Carls Patio, the company said.

Carls Patio Acquisition is an affiliate of Weinberg Capital, which in turn is an affiliate of Weinberg & Bell Group. WBG Partners V acquired Carls Patio from Carls Furniture in 2008; it's partially owned by Ronald Weinberg and Daniel Bell of Weinberg & Bell Group.