Ex-NBA player bids $14M for Ebony

Junior Bridgeman targets bankrupt legacy Black media company.

Former NBA player CHICAGO —

Ulysses “Junior” Bridgeman has emerged as the likely next owner of legacy Black media company Ebony, after bidding $14 million for it in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Bridgeman Sports and Media, a company owned by the retired Milwaukee Bucks forward, was announced as the successful bidder for Ebony Media’s assets by a Houston bankruptcy court on

Friday.

The sale order is expected to be approved by a federal bankruptcy judge today, according to Leonard Simon, aHouston attorney representing Ebony Media.

Ebony, thelegacyBlackmonthly lifestyle magazine, was forced in Chapter 7 bankruptcy in July by its creditors after defaulting on more than $10 million in loans. The bankruptcy was converted to a voluntary Chapter 11 reorganization in September.

Bridgeman, who spent most of his 12-year basketball career with the Milwaukee Bucks, became a successfulfastfoodrestaurantfranchisee after retiring fromtheNBA in1987. Hesoldhisrestaurantinterests and in 2017 launched HeartlandCoca-ColaBottlingCompany, aKansas-based facilitywhose distributionterritoryincludesKansas, Missouri, and Southern Illinois.

In 2019, Bridgeman dropped efforts to buy Sports Illustrated from Meredith, which subsequently sold the magazine to Authentic Brands Group for $110 million.

Chicago-based Johnson Publishing launched Ebony in 1945, an influential monthly lifestyle magazine that documented the African American experience for more than seven decades.

In 2016 JohnsonPublishing sold Ebony and its sister publication, Jet, to Texas-based private equity firm CVG Group in a deal that includedabout$4.3millionincash.

Struggling during the digital age, the magazine’s woes continued under CVG Group, which ceased print publication of Ebony last year and faced lawsuits brought by freelancersandformeremployees over unpaid compensation. In 2018, Ebony agreed to pay dozens of freelancers nearly $80,000 to settle their lawsuit.

The Ebony purchase originally was financed by ParkviewCapital Credit, which issued CVG about $10 million in loans. WhenEbony defaultedonthoseloans, Parkview filed in July to force the publisher into an involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy, claiming itwas owed $11.9 million.

CVGGroup owns80% ofEbony Media, while Linda Johnson Rice, daughter of Ebony founder John Johnson, retains a 20% interest the company.