STAFF REPORT.
A power management and energy storage systems company headquartered in Kyle that filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 last month won bankruptcy court approval on Feb. 7, according to PR Newswire.
The approval eliminates a February deadline for bids to acquire Xtreme Power and instead paves the way for a straight auction process in March.
The wire reported last week that Horizon Technology Finance Corporation will provide debtor-in-possession financing and serve as the stalking horse at the March 20 auction with a $10 million bid and a pledge not to compete with firms bidding higher.
“This is all very good news – qualified bids are now due March 18, with an auction on March 20,” PR Newswire quoted Peter S. Kaufman, President and Head of Restructuring and Distressed M&A of Gordian Group LLC, as saying.
Xtreme Power has officially won bankruptcy as of Feb. 7. (Photo by Kim Hilsenbeck) |
Kaufman said his firm contacted more than 100 potential buyers and about 30 of them “signed non-disclosure agreements to demonstrate their seriousness and gain access to management and Xtreme Power’s confidential information.”
Xtreme Power CEO Alan Gotcher said in a January written statement, “I have no doubt new owners will find Xtreme Power an attractive acquisition, particularly given that we will be free and clear of liabilities.”
Tech site GigaOm.com reported that according to the bankruptcy filing, Xtreme Power had $10 million in debts, but only $34,000 cash in the bank.
In November, Xtreme Power announced a new project in Hawaii with the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC), scheduled for commissioning in May of this year. It is not clear if the project will move forward as the company will be under new ownership.
The KIUC IV project would mark Xtreme Power’s eight system in Hawaii.
Xtreme Power was founded in 2004 and it designs, engineers, installs and monitors integrated energy storage systems for power generators, grid operators and commercial and industrial end users, among others, according to its website.
At its pinnacle, the company employed 285 people in Kyle and Austin, though recently company officials said the firm only had 53 employees and additional layoffs were likely during the bankruptcy process.
Among the creditors listed for the company are Arnel Investments, Spring Ventures in San Franscisco, Horizon Batterries, which holds the licenses for Xtreme Power’s batteries, and the U.S. Department of Energy, which gave the company a grant totaling upwards of $370,000 from the 1603 cash grant program.
Xtreme Power also received a $2 million grant from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund in 2007.
