Quantegy is officially in Chapter 11

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http://mixonline.com/news/headline [...] k-0215052/

Tom

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powerst@ix.netcom.com wrote:

> http://mixonline.com/news/headline [...] k-0215052/
>
> Tom
>

So are half of the airlines. Doesn't seem to make much difference.

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Joe Sensor wrote:

> So are half of the airlines. Doesn't seem to make much difference.


One studio I worked at was in Chapter 11 when I started there. They did
finally close six months later.

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Richard Chapman <chapman@eng.auburn.edu> wrote:
>Hi -- I am a faculty member at Auburn University, just a couple of
>miles down the road from the Opelika factory. The Quantegy shutdown
>(and indeed it has been a shutdown -- all staff laid off; the
>electricity has only been left on because of worries about toxic waste
>being released if it is turned off; Quantegy owes the city electric
>cooperative $250K) has been big news here. There is a
>court-administered auction going on. The high bid in the initial round
>was a little over $5M. There were 5 bidders, all of whom plan to
>restart the factory, but as of now nothing is being produced.

Yup, and there are a few people (like SPARS) who are trying to put
together group buys of tape.

I think the problem here is that the Quantegy plant is just not optimized
physically to produce small quantities of high quality tape. It is much
more set up for extreme mass-production, which really isn't appropriate
any longer. I think that there is still a strong demand for tape, and
I think anyone restarting the Quantegy plant will pretty much have that
market to themselves. But I think they are going to require some pretty
serious plant changes in order to remain competitive and to start making
a higher quality product profitably in smaller quantities.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

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Joe Sensor <crabcakes@emagic.net> wrote:
>Scott Dorsey wrote:
>> I think that there is still a strong demand for tape, and I think
>> anyone restarting the Quantegy plant will pretty much have that
>> market to themselves. But I think they are going to require some
>> pretty serious plant changes in order to remain competitive and to
>> start making a higher quality product profitably in smaller
>> quantities.
>
>You nailed it. The new owners can reduce the output and triple the price
>of tape. Should be easy to turn a healthy profit. Wish I had the bucks
>to buy it.

That's easier said than done, though. Sometimes it can be harder to make
things in small runs than large ones. And I think some of the consistency
issues that Quantegy has been having in the past decade have something to
do with their attempts to do so.

Plus, they are going to be competing with a few small companies which are
starting up with lines that are more appropriate for the small production
runs the market demands.

It's going to be an interesting couple years.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

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Jay Kadis <jay@ccrma.stanford.edu> wrote in
news:jay-007B57.07451816022005@news.stanford.edu:

> In article <37h7n4F57r3fbU2@individual.net>, Joe Sensor
> <crabcakes@emagic.net> wrote:
>
>> So are half of the airlines. Doesn't seem to make much difference.
>
> Don't you long for the old days when bankruptcy had meaning?

Chapter 11 isn't "really" bankruptcy. It's "If you'll give us a moment to
straighten things out we might still make it".

But Chapter 7 is never very far away.

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Carey Carlan wrote:

> Jay Kadis wrote:
>
> > Joe Sensor

> >> So are half of the airlines. Doesn't seem to make much difference.

> > Don't you long for the old days when bankruptcy had meaning?

> Chapter 11 isn't "really" bankruptcy. It's "If you'll give us a moment to
> straighten things out we might still make it".

And creditors do not have to give you the moment. You submit a Plan of
Arrangement which is subject to approval or not by your creditors, and
which requires that 50% of them in number _and_ amount owed approve in
order for the court to allow you to proceed. A single creditor owed a
pissant's due, or a single creditor owed a bunch can derail the intended
plan.

> But Chapter 7 is never very far away.

Potentially, yes, but as long as you stick to the approved plan you can
have quite a run at pulling it off. This is where I had to take AWHQ
very soon after I accepted the hot seat from Eddie Wilson.

--
ha