$325M buyout offer suits Brooks Brothers

Brooks Brothers will likely be sold out of bankruptcy for $325 million this week after the storied retailer’s leading suitor hiked its offer by $20 million.

The New York-based clothier picked Sparc Group LLC — a partnership between mall owner Simon Property Group and brand-licensing firm Authentic Brands Group — as its winning buyer late Tuesday after scrapping a bankruptcy auction planned for earlier in the day.

A federal judge will consider whether to approve the sale at a hearing set for 10 a.m. Friday.

Brooks Brothers chose Sparc’s initial $305 million offer last month as its “stalking horse” bid, the price for other potential buyers to beat. Brooks Brothers spokesperson Arielle Patrick said the 202-year-old company received other bids but she declined to say who submitted them.

“There wasn’t a need for a formal auction because the critical conversations with several interested parties have been taking place since before the company filed and continued up until this week,” Patrick told The Post in an e-mail.

Sparc — whose portfolio also includes the Aéropostale and Nautica apparel brands — plans to keep at least 125 Brooks Brothers stores open and “preserve the iconic Brooks

Brothers brand,” the retailer said.

WHP Global, another brand-licensing firm, was also working on a bid but dropped out of the process after Brooks Brothers picked Sparc as the leading suitor, according to The Wall Street Journal. Sparc also reportedly beat out WHP in a race to give Brooks Brothers a loan to support it through the Chapter 11 process.

Brooks Brothers filed for bankruptcy in July.