Borders Group May Sell; Lines Up $42.5 Million Infusion

Borders Group Inc., the direct marketer and retailer of books, said Thursday it may put itself up for sale and has lined up $42.5 million to stay in business.

First off, the Ann Arbor, MI-based firm has hired J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. and Merrill Lynch and Co. as financial advisors as it explores whether to sell the company and/or certain divisions.

Meanwhile, Borders has received a financing commitment from Pershing Square Capital Management L.P. for a loan $42.5 million and an offer to purchase certain of its international businesses.

The company also said it suspended its quarterly dividend program “in order to preserve capital for operations and strategic initiatives.”

For the fourth quarter, Borders posted net income was $64.7 million compared to a net loss of $73.6 million in the prior year.

The company reported total consolidated sales of $1.3 billion in for the quarter ended Feb. 2, a 2.8% increase over $1.26 billion last year.

“This will be a challenging year for retailers due to continued uncertainty in the economic environment,” said CEO George Jones, in a statement