PMC Group Inc., a Pennsylvania-based plastics and chemicals firm, submitted a bid to purchase bankrupt Summit Plastic Solutions Inc. and its Pro Corp. factory in Massachusetts, a PMC executive said.
Debtosh Chakrabarti, PMC corporate marketing manager, said PMC made the formal bid Sept. 11. If PMC ends up buying Summit, the new owners say they will continue to run the Pro factory in Florence, Mass.
Summit Plastic officials notified workers, then held a Sept. 12 press conference to announce the bid at the Pro factory in Florence.
Steve Victor, Summit's interim chief financial officer, said PMC bid $5.2 million for the injection molding factory.
``We have asked our attorneys to move as quickly as we can to get into the bankruptcy court and get it approved,'' Victor said.
Victor said he expected to file the notice of a bid with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Worcester, Mass., by Sept. 19. He called it ``certainly a very fair'' opening bid.
Then creditors will be notified of PMC's bid, and the initial offer will be advertised.
The judge will give some time for more bids to be received. A final decision on the winning bid could come in mid-October, according to Victor.
Pro Corp. of Florence, founded in the 1840s, describes itself as the oldest continuously operating plastic injection molder in the United States.
In July, majority owner Mesirow Private Equity Investments Inc. of Chicago gave an interim management team 60 days to sell the money-losing Summit Plastic or shut it down.
The firm closed a factory in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Chakrabarti, son of Paritosh Chakrabarti, PMC chief executive officer, said PMC wants to continue operations in Florence.
``We plan to keep the company open and grow it significantly in the following year,'' he said.
PMC, based in Lansdale, Pa., owns Lenco Inc.-PMC, an injection molding company and audio cassette maker in Waverly, Neb.; PMC Film Canada Inc. of Tottenham, Ontario, which makes plastic film; Polymer Products Co. Inc. of Stockertown, Pa., a maker of specialty plastic compounds; and chemical supplier Crystal Inc.-PMC in Lansdale.
Plastics News reported Sept. 8 that PMC was interested, but had balked at disagreements in contract language.
But on Sept. 11, Chakrabarti said, ``We agreed on the language. Summit agreed to concede to our language.''
About 200 people work at the Pro factory in Florence. Some are third- and fourth-generation Pro workers. Their jobs were in jeopardy, but Victor praised the employees, and he said he is glad PMC wants to keep the plant open.
``They have stayed on the ball, very focused, very supportive, and I am pleased that it's working out this way. Our productivity is up, our quality's up. They've done an outstanding job,'' Victor said.
Victor and Chakrabarti praised political leaders for their support to keep the jobs in Florence. State House Majority Leader William P. Nagle Jr., a Democrat who is from Northampton, Mass., took a leading role in the effort. Florence is near Northampton.
``Part of our reason for moving aggressively into the situation was the support of William Nagle,'' Chakrabarti said.