Post by ferryfast admin on Feb 2, 2008 14:55:50 GMT -5
Last updated February 1, 2008 7:40 p.m. PT
Sale of Nichols Bros. Boat Builders approved
Whidbey company plans to rehire 100
By DAN RICHMAN
P-I REPORTER
www.seattlepi.com.
A federal bankruptcy court on Friday approved the $9.1 million purchase of bankrupt Nichols Bros. Boat Builders, South Whidbey Island's largest employer.
The sale to Ice Flow LLC, backed by a Dallas capital investment group, is expected to close by Feb. 12.
Now down to 50 employees from 182 before it declared bankruptcy Nov. 2, Nichols Bros. will begin rehiring immediately, spokesman Laird Harris said.
In the short term, it will bring back 100 employees, restoring the total work force to 150, he said.
In March, the company will undertake work on two new tugboats, he said. It will also try requalifying to participate with two other companies to build some of the new Washington State Ferries vessels, said Len York, a financial adviser to Ice Flow.
Overall, York said, "we'll focus the company on its core business, which has been building ferries, tugs and fishing boats."
Some management changes are contemplated, though York declined to detail them Friday.
Joseph Usibelli, a longtime Nichols Bros. investor and customer, founded Ice Flow after paying off a $3.8 million debt the boat maker owed to Frontier Bank, York said. Then, with the backing of Dallas-based capital investment group Treadstone Capital Management LP, it paid about $5.3 million more to make the purchase.
Nichols Bros. stated in its bankruptcy filing that it had debts of $43.9 million and assets of $3.41 million.
Treadstone, which has assets of $60 million, owns an undisclosed majority share of Ice Flow. It has offered Nichols Bros. a line of credit in the single-digit millions to finance new projects.
"What Treadstone sees in Nichols Bros. is a wonderful reputation as a very high-quality boat manufacturer, a group of employees who are very strong and capable," York said. "It's investing in the talent and capability of the yard, not a few used assets."
Several lawsuits pending against Nichols Bros., which were cited by Chief Executive Matt Nichols as one reason the company declared bankruptcy, won't have to be battled by the new owners. Instead, under bankruptcy law, those plaintiffs will have to proceed against the old, bankrupt Nichols Bros., not the newly financed company, York said.
"We assumed the assets and none of the liabilities," he said.
P-I reporter Dan Richman can be reached at 206-448-8032 or danrichman@seattlepi.com.