ImagePoint Files Chapter 11
The sign-maker's voluntary bankruptcy allows it to avoid being forced into Chapter 7 by creditors.
April 13, 2009
ImagePoint, a signs and image products manufacturer founded 65 years ago in Knoxville, Tenn., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 10. The company filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Knoxville, Tenn., in response to creditor pressure. ImagePoint, which has designed signs for such companies as the former Wachovia and fast-food giant McDonald’s, shut down its operations in January and fired 450 employees after capital-raising efforts failed, according to reports.
On April 7, ImagePoint reached an agreement with its creditors to file for voluntary bankruptcy protection by Friday to avoid being placed under involuntary Chapter 7 proceedings by the court. Creditors of the company include McDonald’s, CMH Homes, which is a subsidiary of Clayton Homes, American Honda Motor Co. and Deere & Co. CMH is owed at least $1.1 million by ImagePoint for payments it made to the company for various signs, products that the creditor has yet to receive, according to reports.
ImagePoint attempted to liquidate assets last week through auction and liquidation services company Stopol. According to a Stopol spokeswoman who answered the phone at the auction-services company, none of ImagePoint’s signs were sold at the auction due to copyright issues associated with the assets.
Private equity firm Navigation Capital offered to invest $10 million in equity and $3 million in a debt facility into ImagePoint in January, according to a blog posted by Larry Mock, managing partner of Navigation Capital. The capital infusion was to support an $11 million loan provided to ImagePoint by Wachovia, Mock writes in his blog. Those talks, however, fell through.
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