Pawtucket based DB Companies Inc., with 149 DB Mart
convenience stores and 570 employees in New York’s Hudson Valley
region and New England, sought bankruptcy court protection amid
heavy competition from larger chains, Bloomberg reported yesterday.
The company reports it had less than $100 million in assets and
about $65 million in debts in papers filed Wednesday in U.S.
Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware.
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The family owned company said in court papers that it plans
to auction its stores and seek bids from national chains that want
to expand in the Northeast, Bloomberg reports.
Last month, the company said,
it hired a financial consulting firm that concluded DB’s
“operating difficulties, market position, inability to meet its
obligations” and lack of a business plan would inhibit successful
restructuring, reports show.
Chief Financial Officer Robert Kliewe said in court papers
that DB Companies lost $3.1 million last year on sales of $176
million. The stores, including 86 with gas stations, are located
in New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
The company filed for court
protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
Among the company’s largest unsecured creditors listed in
court papers are the 1818 Mezzanine Fund LP, managed by Brown
Brothers Harriman & Co., owed $13.7 million; and Valero Energy
Corp., owed $2.1 million, Bloomberg reports.
In November, Valero, with 13 U.S. and Canadian refineries,
said it would supply fuel to DB stations for 10 years. The 750-
million-gallon contract was its largest with a single distributor.
Bloomberg News
