L. J. Hooker Sells Jewelry Stores: L....

L. J. Hooker Sells Jewelry Stores: L. J. Hooker Corp. said a U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved the sale of the 79-store Merksamer Jewelers chain to a management group for more than $60 million. Hooker, the U.S. subsidiary of the ailing Australian real estate and retail giant, filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year. The sale of the Sacramento-based jewelry chain will provide Hooker with $23.5 million in cash. The buyers, headed by Samuel J. Merksamer, the chain’s chief executive who sold the family-owned business to Hooker in 1986, will assume liabilities of more than $25 million. Hooker will retain a 10% interest. Hooker also recently received court permission to liquidate B. Altman & Co., the Fifth Avenue department store chain.