A bankruptcy judge has approved the sale of beleaguered coffee company Tully’s to a group led by Patrick Dempsey.
The actor dubbed “McDreamy” in the “Grey’s Anatomy” hospital TV drama had claimed victory last week after an auction.
But a company that teamed up with Starbucks Corp. to bid for the Tully’s Coffee chain filed an objection Wednesday. AgriNurture Inc. said it was still willing to proceed with its combined bid with Starbucks of about $10.6 million.
The bid from Dempsey’s company, Global Baristas LLC, was for $9.2 million.
At a hearing Friday afternoon, Judge Karen Overstreet said the auction was fair.
Tully’s has 47 shops in Washington and California with more than 500 employees. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October.
The actor’s group promised to retain the company’s roughly 480 employees, whereas at the private auction Starbucks promised only to consider their applications, according to filings.
The Seattle Times contributed to this report.
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