Boscov family may bid for firm

The Boscov's department store chain, which entered Chapter 11 in August has a potential buyer, Versa Capital Management, a Philadelphia investment firm. Versa offered $11 million in cash, plus assumption of $175 million in debts. The plan would include closing ten of the chain's 49 locations.

Word emerged this week that a second bidder has expressed interest, and the rumor is that the new contender is the Boscov family, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer:

"We've heard that the family's very interested in maintaining control," said Warren C. Gerber Jr., financial-services manager for New York-based Phillips-Van Heusen Corp., the Inquirer reported.

Creditors are pleased, of course, at the possibility of a bidding war, since it increases their chances of getting paid.