BANGOR – A potential buyer has offered nearly $1.2 million to take over the closed Sea Dog Brewing Co. restaurants in Bangor, Camden and Topsham.

If the prospective buyer’s request to expedite the sale is granted next week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Bangor, motions related to the sale of the leases and assets could be conducted as early as Friday, Dec. 6, Bangor City Solicitor Norman Heitmann said Wednesday.

According to court documents, the asset purchase agreement between the buyer and bankruptcy trustee requires a closing on or before Dec. 31.

Sea Dog Ventures Inc., a Portland-based entity, has offered $1,194,100 for the three restaurant leases and assets, court documents show.

Heitmann said the city had not yet received information on who is behind Sea Dog Ventures, but that the city had received confirmation that the corporation was unaffiliated with the former owners.

The 8-year-old Bangor restaurant at 26 Front St. is considered a key location on the city’s waterfront, currently the focus of a redevelopment effort. When it closed, 60 people were put out of work. City officials are eager to see it reopened.

Heitmann said that the city had fielded eight or 10 inquiries about the availability of the Bangor site, but that the offer made by Sea Dog Ventures was currently the only one seeking all three sites.

The financially troubled brewing company closed its restaurants earlier this month, after a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge denied the company’s request to lower its debt to its primary creditor, WWN Group.

The brewing company, which initially sought to reorganize under Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, has since filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, paving the way for the liquidation of the business’ assets.

In 1994, the city of Bangor gave the Sea Dog owner a favorable $19,475 a year lease on the former shoe assembly plant building with the stipulation that the structure be renovated.

In Sea Dog’s early years, the city also loaned the business $200,000 to complete the renovations. As of this month, the company was current in its repayment of that loan, Heitmann said earlier this month.

If the company came under new ownership, the city would have the right to negotiate a new lease, he said. A new owner also would have to repay an estimated $36,000 in outstanding lease and tax payments.