The maker of Bauer hockey gear and Easton baseball equipment filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday after its accounting came under scrutiny, baseball bat sales slumped and retail chain Sports Authority liquidated.

Exeter, N.H.-based Performance Sports Group said Monday that it had filed for protection from its creditors in federal court in Delaware and through a similar process in Canada.

The company lined up a “stalking horse” bid, or leading offer, to set the bar for an open auction of its assets. The $575 million bid came from an affiliate of Sagard Capital Partners and Fairfax Holdings. Sagard is its largest shareholder at 16.9%.

Performance Sports also secured access to $386 million in bankruptcy loans, known as debtor-in-possession financing, to continue operating and paying employees.

Any final sale or financing would have to be approved by a bankruptcy judge.

“The agreement we have reached with Sagard Capital and Fairfax Financial is a testament to their confidence in the future of our business and all of our great brands,” Performance Sports CEO Harlan Kent said in a statement. “We believe that pursuing a sale through a court-supervised restructuring process represents the best path forward for our customers, vendors, retail and business partners, employees and other stakeholders.”

The filing came fewer than four months after the company’s board hired independent legal counsel to investigate the “finalization of the company’s financial statements and related certification process.” The company had convinced lenders to provide an extension on filing those documents through Oct. 28,  but it failed to meet that deadline.

The sports gear maker on Monday blamed “a significant downturn in retail sales across all product categories, but particularly in the company’s important bat category,” as well as “the Chapter 11 filing by “one of the largest U.S. national sporting goods retailers” and bankruptcies of other key customers.

Youth baseball participation rates have declined in recent years, according to the National Sporting Goods Association.

The company also cited the “adverse market and economic conditions,” “customer credit issues” and currency rates.

In its Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition, the company listed $594 million in assets and $608 million in debts.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.