Dive Brief:

• RadioShack’s deal to keep some 1,740 stores operating was in serious question Thursday as creditor-bidder Salus Capital Partners asked the bankruptcy judge to intervene.

• The highest bid — by $23 million — is currently from hedge fund Standard General, but that amount is largely bolstered by loans it says it will forgive, known as a “credit bid.”

• In court Thursday, Salus's attorney called Standard General’s bid “a charade” and “a sham” and asked the court to compare its $271 million cash bid compared to Standard General’s $16 million cash portion.

Dive Insight:

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Shannon is taking all these arguments in serious consideration, asking witnesses to testify to the fairness or unfairness of the auction and saying that he’d cleared his schedule through Monday. 

Meanwhile, several more attorneys general from several states say they are poised to join Texas and Tennessee in challenging RadioShack’s plan to sell customer data despite its promise not to — ushering in a broad change in a cyber-attack-weary world, from a time when such sales were routine in bankruptcy proceedings.