Equity firm Brynwood Partners Inc. has won a bid to buy the assets of bag maker Uniflex Inc. and will take the company out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Brynwood, in Greenwich, Conn., was to close the purchase in December, said new Uniflex Chief Executive Officer Vincent Schaller. Brynwood appointed Schaller, a printing industry executive for more than 20 years, to head Uniflex.
The Hicksville company will change its name to Uniflex Holdings, Schaller said Dec. 15, the date of a court-ordered auction for the company assets. Uniflex now is debt-free, he said. The company had more than $13 million in secured debt when it filed June 24 for Chapter 11 protection from creditors.
Uniflex will draw on capital from Brynwood, Schaller said. The equity firm has invested almost $200 million in 16 companies since its founding in 1984, according to its Web site.
``We're in a position to be the strongest company in the [bag] industry now that we have zero debt,'' Schaller said. ``In one fell swoop, we've gone from being one of the weakest to one of the strongest.''
Uniflex makes polyethylene bags and flexible plastic envelopes, working from a manufacturing site in Westbury, N.Y., and two distribution facilities. The bag extruder was owned by its former managers and New Canaan, Conn.-based equity firm RFE Investment Partners LP.
The company continued operations after the Chapter 11 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. Officials said they expect to record more than $30 million in sales this year.
``We're very optimistic about the future growth of the company,'' Schaller said. ``It brings a whole new element of Christmas cheer to employees.''