Wednesday, February 16, 2022, 1:23 pm News Flash Archive

As long expected, the bankruptcy court has signed an order setting the auction date for the sale of Express Grain assets on February 25 at 10 am at the Aberdeen Federal court house.

The order also sets a hearing for 1:30 pm that same afternoon to approve the best bid and finalize the sale.

The court's order may be seen here: Order Approving Auction of EG Assets

The court's order lays out a pre-auction "bidding" process whereby "qualified bidders" will make offers for some or all of the assets of EG. Then on February 25th, the auction will take place, starting at the best bid price that was submitted beforehand.

The court excluded the following assets from the auction:

Debtor's cash, whether cash in hand or funds on deposit in Debtor's numerous bank accounts existing as of the Petition Date and those established in connection with this bankruptcy case;

Debtor's security deposits;

Debtor's accounts receivables;

Debtor's grain inventory or finished product unless an offer or bid is made specifying the dollar amount allocated to the grain inventory and/or to the finished product inventory;

Any avoidance actions arising under chapter 5 of title 11 of the United States Code or state law;

Any Executory Contracts and Unexpired Leases;

Any claims or causes of action against the Debtor's management, owners, directors or officers, including any insurance proceeds related to those claims or causes of action;

Any biodiesel tax credit(s).

The court mentioned in its order that "there appears to be no Director and Officer insurance coverage currently in effect or in effect at the time of the bankruptcy filings based on [CRO] Gerrard's testimony at the hearing...."

The court further directed that "the net sales proceeds from the sale of the assets of the Debtor shall be deposited in a segregated account and held pending further order of this Court."

The CRO for EG is also required to provide copies of all bids to the largest creditors and all attorneys representing the parties in the bankruptcy case, as well as notices of the names of the parties interested in bidding for the assets.

Any person submitting a bid for all the assets must provide a "good faith deposit" of $150,000. Those submitting bids for individual properties must post deposits of lesser amounts as laid out in the court order.

The court will also approve a "backup bidder" in case the top bidder proves unable to close the sale.

John Pittman Hey
The Taxpayers Channel

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