Postville, IA – A $40 million offer from an Israeli food company has begun the bidding for the assets of Agriprocessors in bankruptcy.
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Soglowek Nahariya Ltd. has made the offer for the kosher meat packing company in Postville, which became mired in legal and financial troubles after an immigration raid in May 2007 snared about one-third of its work force.
Bankruptcy trustee Joseph Sarachek filed a motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court Sunday seeking approval of a bankruptcy sale process based on the Soglowek bid.
“The trustee believes that the offer is fair and reasonable,” the motion stated. “The offer enables the trustee to proceed with an auction process, which he submits provides the estate and its creditors with the best means to maximize the value of the assets.”
Soglowek officials were not immediately available for comment. Dan Childers, an attorney for the bankruptcy trustee, indicated the trustee is hoping for an auction date in mid to late May to sell the Agriprocessors assets.
At least 12 companies have been interested enough in buying Agriprocessors to sign confidentiality agreements with the trustee. If a different company outbids Solgowek at the auction, Soglowek would be entitled to receive a $2 million breakup fee and reimbursement of up to $500,000 from the bankruptcy estate under an agreement proposed to the court.
Chief Bankruptcy Judge Paul Kilburg expressed some relief at Monday’s hearing that an impending sale will curtail the ongoing expenses of administering the bankruptcy.
Childers said the trustee was seeking court approval to run the company for one additional week while details for a long-term financing plan are worked out with the First Bank Business Capital of St. Louis.
In an ideal case, Childers said the buyer would like to see the company operating with 1,000 employees and a million dollar’s worth of cattle per day when the sale closes. He said the question is how much the trustee can ramp up operations without borrowing a lot more money.
$40 million is an insult. That would be hardly enough to pay the creditors, who will lose millions more.
It would make more sense to break up the company and sell the assets. We already learned that we can do without that source of meat and the few who think that all meat in the world is treif except for Rubashkin can buy from Wise, under the CHK
Very good news, after all a lot of Jews use to eat kosher because of that great company!
I don’t agree with the way how they treat their employees, but they had a real Merit of spreading kosher food all over the country.
Is this Israeli company known to follow adequate kashruth practices; does it have any hashgacha that would be better than Rubashkin
Q. Partners from Florida want it to buy it out for $30 million plus $15 to start production the fed said NO because that would mesn rubbashkin still Owen the Co. Now comes some one and settle for less
You can talk about how Agri had the merit to do this, and the zchus to do that. It’s all, pardon the pun, baloney. If their goal was to spread kashrus across America they’d be a 501(c)3. Their goal was to make profit, and lot’s of it. That they did spread kashrus across America was a byproduct of the business, not its intent.
That’s why they used strong armed sales tactics. That’s why they fought the unions. That’s why they produced treif meat. To enhance profits.
If you want to come on here and say that in their personal lives the Rubashkins were baalei chesed, wonderful people, I accept that 100%. Kol hakovod to all of them. But the goal of Agri was to make money, period. The infrastructure they built in and around Postville was to serve the same goal. So cut the “what a zchus” garbage, because if they were in it for zchusim, chicken would be 25% of what it is today.
zoglowek has several red marks on their report cards in the meat industry. time will tell because we don’t want to sell and have a repeat of a rubashkin story
I don’t understand a few things.
Do the Rubashkins have to approve the sale of Agri or does the court or does the bank? If the Rubashkins sell to Soglowek, why does there have to be an auction in May?
When is the soonest that a sale would go through?
Please – enough with the debate over the virtues of the Rubashkins etc- this “debate” is going on far too long and noone will change any one’s mind with their continued posts- let’s leave it to the bankruptcy court to sort out and to the ultimate Bais Din Shel Maaloh-
I will not get tangled up in a foolish argument.
The bottom line is that you come out and say absurd and false statements that offend not only Agri and its workers but Rabbi’s and people who used and continue to use their product.
You are being moztai shaim rah on a Jew which is a very serious sin – and if you’re not sure what that means go look it up in Shulchan Aruch.
And my statement still stands that you don’t have fear of G-d for you are clearly going against a fundamental law in the Torah – and you know it.
But you continue to say these absurd statements and you don’t stop to look at yourself and see what you are doing is outright wrong and against the Torah and to see how you can fix yourself
There is probably no point in me telling this to you since you did not get the message the first time in all likelihood you won’t get it the second or third and so on.
So I end with this… Don’t do to others what you don’t want done to your self – Truly think about it.
And stop coming up with all kinds of excuses.
Signing off.
All you big experts keep it on
Unlike you I am human and have made many mistakes in my life some of which include incorrect spelling.You are correct in that I generally “skim” over your ever babbling posts. I find them hateful, arrogant and self serving and after reading the above posts I find myself in good company.