Janesville, Wis.-based PVC pipe and fittings maker Freedom Plastics Inc. was sold to four companies in deals valued at $11.5 million.
Rock County, Wis., Circuit Court Judge Kenneth Forbeck, who has been overseeing the receivership, approved the sale.
The sale price falls short of the approximate $20 million Freedom owes its primary creditor, Bank of America.
Houston-based Westlake Chemical Corp. will pay $6.3 million for Freedom's extrusion operations in Janesville. Ashville, N.C.-based Silver-Line Plastics will pay $3.8 million for Freedom's plant in Fort Pierce, Fla. Logan, Utah-based Naco Industries will pay $400,000 for equipment from Freedom's fitting plant in Preston, Idaho. Lynchburg, Va.-based Harrington Corp. will pay $1 million for the fabrication operations in Janesville.
David Hansen, a Westlake senior vice president, said a decision has not been made on whether to keep operating the plant in Janesville, or to move the machinery to other locations.
“The management team has to get the lay of the land,” he said in a March 18 telephone interview. More information will be made available once the deal closes, he said.
Echoing that statement was Silver-Line's president and chief executive officer, Ricky Silver, who declined to comment until the deal was finalized.
Freedom employs 155 and has 28 PVC pipe extrusion lines.