Two years of losses have prompted American LaFrance LLC, the emergency and vocational truck manufacturer, to seek bankruptcy protection, according to Bloomberg.
The South Carolina-based company, known as one of the oldest
and most famous fire apparatus manufacturers in America, listed debt and assets of between $100 million and $500 million in Chapter 11 documents filed Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The move to a new factory this year slowed production, and the switch to a new accounting and inventory system hampered vehicle deliveries, American LaFrance said.
The system, adopted in June, had "serious deficiencies that had a crippling impact on operations," American LaFrance said in the papers. The company said it had net losses of $56 million in 2007 and $48 million in 2006 as demand also slumped for fire trucks, ambulances and other emergency vehicles.
Patriarch Partners LLC, a New York-based investment firm, acquired the company two years ago from the Freightliner unit of the former DaimlerChrysler AG for an undisclosed price. American LaFrance opened a new headquarters and manufacturing plant in Summerville last October. American LaFrance told Bloomberg it doesn't have enough cash to keep operating.
American LaFrance expects to exit bankruptcy in less than 90 days, according to a statement. A motion for sale will be filed in case the court rejects its reorganization plan, American LaFrance told Bloomberg. The company will seek $50 million from current lenders to keep operating in bankruptcy.