Joe's loose plan was to buy the secured debt and become a secured creditor, which let him see everyone's bids and use that position to make a higher bid and negotiate. As he puts it, it was "a not a very well organized plan to be honest."
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Joe didn't come from a VC or private equity background and didn't even have the money initially — he had to raise money to buy the debt. The reasoning: there was a secured debt with plenty of interest and heaps of bidders, so the real risk was a time risk. If you buy the debt to become a secured creditor, "you could see everyone's bids and we could use that to see if we wanted to make a higher bid and ultimately have the highest bid," and use the secured-debt position to negotiate with the other parties from a strong position. He raised money to buy the debt and complete the purchase, then realised he didn't have enough to run the company — "this is not part of the plan." Before settlement he had to put his house on the line to guarantee he'd settle, and some financing came through at the end to get it done.