Judge asked to OK sale of Agriprocessors

POSTVILLE, IA — The court-appointed trustee of Agriprocessors Inc. in Postville asked a judge today to approve the sale of the slaughterhouse to a newly formed Iowa company that bought the debt held by the plant’s two largest creditors.

The bankruptcy trustee, Joseph Sarachek, filed a motion in U.S. bankruptcy court asking the judge to allow the sale to SHF Industries, LLC.

“It’s a firm deal,” Sarachek said in an interview.

A sale could revive the ailing kosher meat plant, which has struggled for more than a year after a May 2008 immigration raid gutted its work force. But a U.S. bankruptcy judge must still approve the deal, with the blessing of federal prosecutors who want to ensure that the ousted manager does not return to the helm.

SHF registered as a business in Iowa on May 6, 2009, according to the Secretary of State’s office. The company is owned by Hershey Friedman, the president of a Canadian plastics plant, and two other partners.

Under the deal, SHF agreed to pay an $8.5 million credit bid and accept the plant on an “as is, where is” basis that places nothing under warranty. The potential buyer also agreed to provide Sarachek with post-sale access to the plant’s books and records.

First Bank Business Capitol, the plant’s largest creditor, assigned all of its right title and interest to SHF the day the company incorporated in Iowa, according to the bankruptcy motion. One month later, MLIC Asset Holdings, sold its debt to the company.

Agriprocessors was the site of a major immigration raid that led to the arrest of 389 immigrant workers. The plant, once the nation’s largest producer of kosher meats, has since struggled financially, and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2008.