SK FOODS LP

Case Highlights

• Preserved assets and conducted fast, successful sale process
• Work with regulators and investigatory agencies

Case Narrative

SK Foods LP, one of the country’s largest processors of tomatoes and other vegetable products, filed for relief under Chapter 11.  A DSI professional was appointed as Chapter 11 Trustee for the Debtor.  The bankruptcy filing was a result of a dispute with the company’s secured lenders following the Federal Government’s raid on the premises of SK Foods. Since then, seven senior managers and the owner of the company have plead guilty to charges including bribery, price-fixing and fraud related to falsifying product-quality documentation provided to SK Food’s customers.  Because the Debtor’s lenders would not fund the operations after the start of the annual tomato pack season, the Trustee had to quickly (within 5-6 weeks of appointment) sell the processing operation or risk a significant reduction in the value of the assets as well as causing the loss of thousands of jobs and the bankruptcies of tomato growers. After the successful sale of the operating assets, the Trustee embarked on a concerted effort to identify and locate other estate assets and has pursued asset recovery actions reaching as far as Australia.