Columbus, Ohio — Big Lots has filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and has entered into a sale agreement with Los Angeles-based private equity firm Nexus Capital Management, a deal that would that the Ohio-based discount retailer private. Under the terms of the agreement, Nexus will serve as the “stalking horse bidder” (the approved investor that sets the low-end bar for a bankrupt company) in a court-supervised auction to acquire “substantially all” of Big Lots’ physical assets and ongoing business operations. Big Lots expects to keep the majority of its …
