Pure Prairie Poultry Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Petition Dismissed

Pure Prairie Poultry’s (PPP) petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy has been dismissed after creditors objected to the filing.

According to a petition filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota on September 20th, the Charles City chicken processing company has assets between $50 million and $100 million. However, PPP has liabilities between $100 million and $500 million with between 200 and 999 creditors.

On PPP’s list of its 20 biggest creditors holding unsecured claims is the City of Charles City, owed over $500,000; and almost $2 million in debt to Masterson’s Staffing, based in Minneapolis and with an office in Charles City. PPP owes over $2.4 million to Tri-State Poultry, which supplies much of the plant’s equipment.

PPP sought post-petition financing of $15 million in “debtor in possession (DIP)  financing” in order to ensure continued operations during this case as it implements a sale process. The DIP financing, from Sandton Capitol, was contingent upon Sandton getting “senior secured status” so that claims they were owed by Pure Poultry would be paid before any others. 

However, a number of other creditors filed objections to the plan and a hearing to dismiss the bankruptcy filing was held Friday (09.27).

Tracy Miller, senior director of brand and marketing for Pure Prairie said in a statement, “Without those approvals, the bankruptcy court could not approve our initial plan of reorganization, so we have asked the court to dismiss our filing, a motion that was granted Friday afternoon.”

Miller added, “We continue to pursue the expressions of interest from several potential buyers and to look for restructuring options outside of the courts. As we do so, we will curtail or suspend operations to conserve cash and to meet our commitments to quality and wholesomeness.” 

 Miller also noted, “No employees have been laid off.  The contract workers through local staffing agencies are no longer working at the plant.  All Pure Prairie Poultry employees are still employed.”