Joe, I understand that the increased demand for sugar will be brought about by its use in new fuel cell engines! Sugar will be the new oil. Sugar daddies will be the in crowd.
Hey, congratulaions to Ken on DHB and to you on TRIB. Yeehaw!
ALU situation is not looking good. Today's Newsday:
Allou Consultant to Sell Companies
By Alan J. Wax and Jamie Herzlich Staff Writers
April 14, 2003, 1:42 PM EDT
A Rhode Island consultant picked to run the bankrupt subsidiaries of Allou Healthcare Inc. said this morning he plans a quick sale of the four companies.
As Richard Sebastiao, the consultant, told a bankruptcy court hearing in Central Islip that he has already had inquiries from multi-billion-dollar companies about buying the businesses, a lawyer representing Allou's lenders alleged that the health and beauty aids business was mismanaged.
"There has been substantial mismanagement," Jonathan Helfat, a lawyer for Congress Financial Corp., told the court. "There is unaccounted for inventory and unsubstantiated accounts receivable."
Nine lenders, led by Congress, have loans totaling between $180 million and $280 million secured by all of the company's assets.
Also, Helfat said, top managers of Allou no longer are involved in Allou's daily activities. "Management of the company is no longer on the premises," he said, adding that Sebastiao's appointment,approved today by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Melanie Cyganowski, "will bring stability to a very chaotic situation,"
Sebastiao, who holds the title of chief restructuring officer of Allou Distributors, said, "I have control over every facet of the business."
The parent company, Allou Healthcare, currently is not part of the Chapter 11 filings, made last Thursday, but other subsidiaries of the Brentwood-based health and beauty aids distributor may file, lawyers said. The situation at the company was described in court as chaotic.
"We do not have access to the accounting records," Lee Stremba, a bankruptcy lawyer for Allou, said, "There is a master computer code to which we don't have access." The head of the computer operation has been uncooperative, lawyers said, adding that they might seek a court order to force the executive to cooperate.
Sebastiao told the judge he plans to bring in forensic accountants to review the company's books, possibly as early as Wednesday.
Outside of courtroom, Sebastiao said 30 percent of Allou's workforce had been let go.
He said the company's top executives, while not at work, have not resigned and remain as directors.
It was unclear if there will be any funds available to repay Allous's unsecured creditors or for its shareholders after any potential sales. Helfat said there are insufficient assets to pay off the bank loans.
The bankruptcies, Stremba said, were precipitated by a warehouse fire in Brooklyn last September that destroyed $101 million in inventory. The fire, called an arson by investigators, remains under active investigation. |
