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Weld Wheels files Chapter 11.- kind of long.
A Kansas City manufacturer of high-end custom wheels filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday.
As a result of the bankruptcy, Weld Wheel Industries Inc., which employs about 380 people, plans to sell its assets to American Racing Equipment Inc., a company based in Rancho Dominguez, Calif., that is in a similar line of work.
"Debtors believe that the sale of assets ... is in the best interest of debtors' estates, the creditors, their employees and the community," Weld Industries said in a court document filed Thursday. "The (asset purchase agreement) provides going concern value for debtors' assets and the opportunity for continued employment for most or all employees as well as the preservation of the business in Kansas City, Missouri, and at some or all of the distribution centers."
In court documents, the company listed total assets and total liabilities as each being $31.7 million as of June 30. Taylor Weld, listed as the company's president, signed the bankruptcy form, which was filed in the Bankruptcy Court of Western Missouri. The company hired lawyers from Bryan Cave LLP to represent it in bankruptcy proceedings.
Weld Wheels, a family-owned business established in 1985, received $3 million in city incentives in 2003 and spent $15 million to buy and renovate a 290,000-square-foot facility on 17 acres in the Blue Valley.
The city provided the incentives, city leaders said, to prevent Weld Wheel from moving to Kansas City, Kan. The company left its former multistory location in the West Bottoms for a new single-level building at 6600 Stadium Drive, the former Rival Manufacturing Co. plant, to improve efficiency, company leaders said at the time.
The company is seeking court approval of sale procedures that would allow for the submission of competing bids, an auction and final sale hearing within six weeks, court records said.
"American Racing anticipates conducting negotiations with employees concerning employment terms during this period," the filing said.
In a January interview with the Kansas City Business Journal, CEO Greg Weld said revenue increased 17 percent in 2005 from the previous year, though he would not provide figures. He said sales have increased in all but one of the past 22 years, the exception being 2003, when the company moved out of the West Bottoms.
He said the company had hired 80 people since moving.
Weld Wheel charges as much as $8,000 per high-end custom wheel, the most expensive of which often go to rap stars and celebrities. Other buyers include race car drivers.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said in 2004 that the company's annual average salary of $38,000 was nearly one-quarter higher than the average for Kansas City-area production workers. Greg Weld said in January that his company's annual payroll was about $14.4 million -- a figure he expected to grow if he landed several "major contracts" he was negotiating.
Published August 17, 2006 by the Kansas City Business Journal
As a result of the bankruptcy, Weld Wheel Industries Inc., which employs about 380 people, plans to sell its assets to American Racing Equipment Inc., a company based in Rancho Dominguez, Calif., that is in a similar line of work.
"Debtors believe that the sale of assets ... is in the best interest of debtors' estates, the creditors, their employees and the community," Weld Industries said in a court document filed Thursday. "The (asset purchase agreement) provides going concern value for debtors' assets and the opportunity for continued employment for most or all employees as well as the preservation of the business in Kansas City, Missouri, and at some or all of the distribution centers."
In court documents, the company listed total assets and total liabilities as each being $31.7 million as of June 30. Taylor Weld, listed as the company's president, signed the bankruptcy form, which was filed in the Bankruptcy Court of Western Missouri. The company hired lawyers from Bryan Cave LLP to represent it in bankruptcy proceedings.
Weld Wheels, a family-owned business established in 1985, received $3 million in city incentives in 2003 and spent $15 million to buy and renovate a 290,000-square-foot facility on 17 acres in the Blue Valley.
The city provided the incentives, city leaders said, to prevent Weld Wheel from moving to Kansas City, Kan. The company left its former multistory location in the West Bottoms for a new single-level building at 6600 Stadium Drive, the former Rival Manufacturing Co. plant, to improve efficiency, company leaders said at the time.
The company is seeking court approval of sale procedures that would allow for the submission of competing bids, an auction and final sale hearing within six weeks, court records said.
"American Racing anticipates conducting negotiations with employees concerning employment terms during this period," the filing said.
In a January interview with the Kansas City Business Journal, CEO Greg Weld said revenue increased 17 percent in 2005 from the previous year, though he would not provide figures. He said sales have increased in all but one of the past 22 years, the exception being 2003, when the company moved out of the West Bottoms.
He said the company had hired 80 people since moving.
Weld Wheel charges as much as $8,000 per high-end custom wheel, the most expensive of which often go to rap stars and celebrities. Other buyers include race car drivers.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said in 2004 that the company's annual average salary of $38,000 was nearly one-quarter higher than the average for Kansas City-area production workers. Greg Weld said in January that his company's annual payroll was about $14.4 million -- a figure he expected to grow if he landed several "major contracts" he was negotiating.
Published August 17, 2006 by the Kansas City Business Journal
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