(UPDATE 5 p.m.: Books-A-Million confirmed that it has made an offer for 30 leases.)

Alabama-based bookstore chain Books-A-Million has offered to buy up to 35 leases from Ann Arbor-based Borders Group Inc., but the company's Washtenaw County stores are not believed to be on the list of stores that would be rescued.

During a court hearing in New York today, Books-A-Million was revealed to be the tentative acquirer of up to 35 leases — though a judge told the companies to put the offer in writing, according to a Bloomberg report.

A Borders spokeswoman declined to address the revelation or to release the official list of stores that could be sold. The deal must be approved by a bankruptcy judge.

The news comes after Borders said in a filing Monday that it had received a bid to acquire leases for 30 stores and that it would "reserve the right ... to seek approval" from the court to sell those leases and the inventory within those stores.

Borders is expected to win approval later today to liquidate, shedding 399 stores and leaving 10,700 people without a job, including 400 at the company's corporate headquarters in Ann Arbor.

Contact AnnArbor.com's Nathan Bomey at (734) 623-2587 or nathanbomey@annarbor.com. You can also follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's newsletters.