Important Facts Regarding Central Plains Book Manufacturing
Central Plains Book Manufacturing Bankruptcy News
August 25, 2007
By FOSS FARRAR, Traveler Staff Writer
A counter-offer by Union State Bank to a potential buyer of Central Plains Book Manufacturing is unacceptable, the potential Wichita buyer said Friday.
Jeff Johnson, owner of Color Impressions, a Wichita printing company, confirmed a report that Union State Bank had offered a 10-year, $1 million loan for the purchase.
Union State is the largest secured creditor of Central Plains Book Manufacturing in a bankruptcy case.
Johnson said he remains interested in buying Central Plains Book Manufacturing but that he wants a deal to come together quickly. Johnson would form a separate LLC if he were to buy the company, with a partner, Tom Galbraith, also of Wichita.
"Time is of the essence," he said. "Every day that (Central Plains Book Manufacturing is) closed, you lose value on your company."
Central Plains Book Manufacturing ceased operations and laid off its 70 workers on Aug. 1, two days after the Strother Field company filed for Chapter 11. The case was filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Kansas, in Wichita.
Union State Bank was trying to set up a conference call with the prospective buyer, Justin Sparks, vice president and chief loan officer of the bank, said late Friday.
"Nothing is imminent," Sparks said of a potential deal to sell the company. "I'm not optimistic, but I'm not pessimistic."
Sparks and Johnson acknowledged that other parties in the bankruptcy case must be satisfied for any deal to go through. One of them is the Internal Revenue Service, which holds a $300,000 lien on Central Plains Book Manufacturing assets for back taxes.
"The IRS has first lien on cash and receivables," said Ed Nazar, who is representing Central Plains in the bankruptcy. "The bank has a lien on personal property and equipment."
Others that must agree to any deal are the Small Business Administration and a state agency that provided funding to Central Plains Book Manufacturing, Nazar said.
Getting all these entities together on a deal is like getting satellites aligned in space, he said. "They come together and they drift apart," he said.
Nazar said he believes Union State is working diligently to try to make a deal but the bank "needs to run the traps with its constituency, the SBA and the state."
"We need patience and something can come through," he said.
Johnson indicated he is starting to run out of patience. He said he made his first offer to buy Central Plains Book Manufacturing on Aug. 9, and it took the bank until Friday to respond.
"Every day is a new day in this business," he said. "You have to keep the customers coming in and the sales coming in and the books going out. Every day that you're closed, you lose value on your company."
Johnson said he "knows for a fact" that several former Central Plains Book Manufacturing employees have taken other jobs.
"In order for me to resurrect the business and equipment, it's going to be tough," he said. "It's fast becoming less and less valuable."
Gunter Hansen, the general manager of Central Plains Book Manufacturing, said Friday he holds out hope that a deal on the sale can be made, for the sake of the company's 70 employees.
Including the years in business of Gilliland Printing in Arkansas City -- a predecessor of Central Plains Book Manufacturing -- Cowley County has had "60 years of book manufacturing; it should not come to a close," Hansen said.
More Central Plains Book Manufacturing Bankruptcy News
August 17, 2007
From The Arkansas City Traveler
By FOSS FARRAR, Traveler Staff Writer
A $750,000 offer is now on the table to purchase Central Plains Book Manufacturing, but it may not be enough to ensure the company's continued operation here, the company's general manager said Friday.
Seventy local jobs are at stake, said Gunter Hansen, general manager of Central Plains Book Manufacturing.
"I would do anything I can to make sure the company and employees stay here," he said. "The longer we are not in operation, the less attractive we are to a buyer."
An attorney for an Arkansas City bank that is a secured creditor of Central Plains confirmed Friday that a written offer to purchase the printing company had been made, but it included contingencies that effectively reduces the $750,000 figure.
"That is the only written offer we've seen," said Wichita lawyer Karl Swartz, who represents Union State Bank in a bankruptcy case.
Swartz said the current sale offer "is not very doable, but maybe that would change."
The bank as much as anyone would like to see Central Plains revived, he said. But the printing company owes a $1.2 million debt to the bank.
The book manufacturer's plant at Strother Field ceased operations and laid off its 70 workers on Aug. 1, two days after Central Plains Book Manufacturing filed for Chapter 11. The case was filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Kansas, in Wichita.
Hansen said he has been working since then to try to find a buyer that would start up the plant again as soon as possible. He said he is frustrated that the bank won't act on the offer.
"I want to stress the bank is not in control," said Swartz, an attorney with Morris, Laing, Evans, Brock & Kennedy. "Central Plains Book Manufacturing is the debtor in possession. "Our understanding at the outset of the bankruptcy filing is that the assets of the business would be sold through the bankruptcy court."
Hansen said he believes the $750,000 offer at this point is a good offer, because Central Plains Book Manufacturing hasn't operated the past two weeks. "At this point, it is not a going business so the offer is fair," he said.
The written offer on the table is by a Wichita company, Hansen and Swartz said.
A previous offer was made verbally, by a St. Louis company, Hansen said. But the offer ultimately was withdrawn.
"We only hear from Gunter's lawyer that there was a verbal offer, but we've never seen any written offer," Swartz said.
Wichita attorney Ed Nazar is representing Central Plains -- or Wheatfield Investments, Inc., in court records. Nazar was unavailable for comment Friday.
The bankruptcy case is complicated by a $300,000 lien by the Internal Revenue Service on Central Plains assets for back taxes, Swartz said.
A first meeting of creditors is scheduled for Aug. 24 at the district courthouse in Wichita.
Printer Files for Bankruptcy
August 8, 2007
From The Arkansas City Traveler
By FOSS FARRAR, Traveler Staff Writer
Central Plains Book Manufacturing filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week and the company's 70 workers have been laid off.
The last day of production at Central Plains' Strother Field plant was last Wednesday, said Gunter Hansen, the company's general manager.
Central Plains Book Manufacturing filed for Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court District of Kansas, in Wichita, on July 30, a court clerk there said. A first meeting of creditors was scheduled for Aug. 24 at the district courthouse in Wichita.
Hansen said today there are two buyers interested in purchasing the company, and he hopes the plant will be operating again soon. One of the potential buyers is from Wichita; the other is from St. Louis.
"I would do anything I can to make sure the company and employees stay here," Hansen said.
Hansen said he was "blindsided" by the company's financial troubles as were his employees. He organized the company in 1999 after Gilliland's Printing in downtown Arkansas City closed.
Central Plains Book Manufacturing files Chapter 11
August 8, 2007
The Winfield Daily Courier
By JEANNE RICHARDSON, Reporter
Wheatfield Investments Inc., also known as Central Plains Book Manufacturing, filed for relief under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code in United States Bankruptcy Court in Wichita on July 30. They are being represented by Redmond & Nazar, LLP in Wichita.
Operations at the Strother Field plant have ceased.
A hearing will be held on Sept. 13.
Central Plains Book Manufacturing Files for Bankruptcy
July 30, 2007
Cowley County, Kansas. On July 30, 2007, Wheatfield Investments, Inc. d/b/a/ Central Plains Book Manufacturing filed for bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas, Wichita Division.
Central Plains Book Manufacturing Ships out Defective Books
A customer purchased an order for books from Central Plains Book Manufacturing.
Of the books received from Central Plains Book Manufacturing, more than 80% were defective.
An individual based in San Francisco, CA has documented an additional negative experience with Central Plains Book Manufacturing on his blog. See: Central Plains Book Manufacturing: Printer's Devil.
Central Plains Sued for Violations of Interstate Commerce Act
March 28, 2007
Central Plains Book Manufacturing sued by Con-Way Transportation Services, Inc. for violations of the Interstate Commerce Act. Case Number 2:2007cv02132
