The potential buyer of bankrupt trucking company Consolidated Freightways Inc. has made a new offer and hopes to have all the details on how he'd finance it nailed down this week,
according to the Riverside Press-Enterprise in California.
Frank Snell, head of a consortium that in October made a $500 million offer to purchase all Consolidated's assets, said he met with company and bankruptcy officials last week and presented a proposal that drew an encouraging response.
"Everyone seems to be favorably disposed to our moving forward, which is a change," Snell said. Snell and his group, which is called Rollin' International, have hurdles to overcome but still hope to revive Consolidated and put its trucks back on the road around the first of the year, he said.
"We expect to have a financing commitment in place by (this) Wednesday," Snell said. "That would be the last step. Dealing with the bankers has been tough."
Richard Neiter, a Los Angeles-based attorney for Consolidated's creditors, said they were intrigued by the offer, but he stopped short of echoing Snell's optimism.
"His proposal was very interesting, but it's premature to have any judgment on it," Neiter said. "It's too soon to tell if he can raise the money."
Neiter said that financing was not the only issue. He said the creditors still need to see "a business plan that makes sense," along with other issues.
Consolidated spokesman Mike Brown said there were several open questions, and financing is the biggest. But they weren't insurmountable, Brown said.
"We're not prepared to characterize (Snell's offer) one way or the other," Brown said. "In a bankruptcy, with so many obligations to creditors, it's not wise for us to be optimistic or pessimistic."
Snell did not say how much he's now offering, but it's less than the original $500 million because a dozen terminals, worth more than $50 million, have been sold in auction.
According to court documents, the company had more than $852 million in assets at the time of the filing and more than $784 million in debts.
The terminal in Mira Loma, the largest and most costly of the more than 300 Consolidated owned, is scheduled to be part of the next auction on Dec. 9. Snell has said his group does not want to buy pieces of the company and has not been a player in the auctions.
Snell is from Fort Worth and most of Rollin' International's investors are Texans, Snell said. A few are from Mexico, he added.