Rockford Products IDs Lead Bidder
Rockford Products IDs Lead Bidder
Jason Sandefur
A week after Rockford Products Corp. won court approval to conduct a quick auction of its auto fasteners division, the company notified state officials that will lay off 75 workers.
A “stalking horse” bidder was also named in court documents for its cold formed products division. Rockford Acquisition LLC, which is linked to buyout firm BlackEagle Partners, was identified as the lead bidder at $21.4 million.
An auction is scheduled for Nov. 12.
While selling off its two smaller divisions, Rockford Products has been unable to ink a deal for its cold-formed products division, which employs about 400 workers to manufacture ball studs, brackets and specially engineered bolts for the automotive industry, as well as for such larger customers as Federal-Mogul Corp. and Caterpillar Inc.
Rockford Products claimed in an October court brief that it had “run out of money and time.” The company reportedly has more than $11 million outstanding with its top 20 unsecured creditors, and a total of 900 creditors are owed undisclosed sums.
Slow automotive products sales and rising pension costs forced Rockford Products to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 25. The company, which was founded in 1929 as Rockford Screw Products, reported 2006 sales of $101 million. Web: rockfordproducts.com �2007 FastenerNews.com
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