In re Congaree Triton Acquisitions, LLC

492 B.R. 843, 2012 WL 8453340, 2012 Bankr. LEXIS 6181
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. South Carolina
DecidedJune 29, 2012
Docket12-00456
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 492 B.R. 843 (In re Congaree Triton Acquisitions, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Congaree Triton Acquisitions, LLC, 492 B.R. 843, 2012 WL 8453340, 2012 Bankr. LEXIS 6181 (S.C. 2012).

Opinion

[846]*846Chapter 11

JUDGMENT

John E. Waites, Chief US Bankruptcy Judge

Based on the findings of fact and conclusions of law set forth in the attached Order, the Motion of Triton Stone Group LLC; Dakota Plumbing Products, LLC; and Nikon to Appoint Trustee or Dismiss or Convert Case is granted and the Chapter 11 case of Congaree Triton Acquisitions, LLC is hereby converted to a case under Chapter 7 of title 11 of the United States Code. Furthermore, actions related to the conversion are also required pursuant to the terms of the attached Order. A status hearing is scheduled in this matter for July 16, 2012 at 10:30 a.m. at the United States Bankruptcy Court, J. Brat-ton Davis United States Bankruptcy Courthouse, 1100 Laurel Street, Columbia, South Carolina 29201-2423.

ORDER

This matter comes before the Court upon the motion of Triton Stone Group LLC (“Triton”), Dakota Plumbing Products, LLC (“Dakota”) and Nikon (collectively, the “Movants”) seeking an order (i) dismissing the above-captioned case pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 1112,1 (ii) converting the case to a case under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code pursuant to § 1112, or (iii) appointing a Chapter 11 trustee (collectively, the “Motion”). Congaree Triton Acquisitions, LLC (the “Debtor”) filed an objection to the Motion on June 18, 2012. In addition, Transportation Consultants, [847]*847Inc. and Triton Stone New Orleans, LLC filed a response to the Motion on June 13, 2012, which expressed their support for the Movants’ request to convert the case to a case under Chapter 7. Greenfield Commercial Credit LLC (“Greenfield”) filed a limited objection to the Motion on the same date. On June 21, 2012, the Court held a hearing on the Motion (the “Hearing”).

This Court has jurisdiction over this matter as a core proceeding pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1334 and 157. Pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 52, which is made applicable to this matter by Fed. R. Bankr.P. 7052 and 9014(c), and based upon the filings of the parties in this matter, applicable statutory and case law, the testimony of the witnesses, the arguments and statements of counsel at the hearing, and the Examiner’s Report (as defined below), the Court makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law:2

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. The Debtor filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code on January 26, 2012 (the “Petition Date”).

2. Triton is a group of wholesale distributors of granite, other natural stone products, and tiles. See Examiner’s Report at p. 11. Triton is comprised of 17 distributorship locations throughout the United States. Id. On March 11, 2011 (the “Acquisition Date”), the Debtor acquired substantially all of the assets of two Triton distributorships, one located in Myrtle Beach and another located in Charlotte, North Carolina (collectively, the “Acquired Distributorships”), for the purchase price of approximately $3 million in cash and promissory notes given to the shareholders of the Acquired Distributorships and other related parties. Id. at 10. Prior to the Acquisition Date, Triton Stone Management, LLC, whose members included other Triton distributorships such as Triton Stone Southaven, Triton Stone New Orleans, and Triton Stone of Knoxville, served as the manager of the Acquired Distributorships. Id. at 11.

3. Upon the Debtor’s acquisition of the Acquired Distributorships, the Debtor also entered into a distributorship agreement with Triton. Since the Acquisition Date, the Debtor and Triton have been involved in a dispute regarding whether the Debtor assumed liability for approximately $4.4 million in trade payables when it purchased the operating assets of the Acquired Distributorships. Id. at 34. To date, the Debtor’s claims register reflects claims filed by the Movants, Transportation Consultants, Inc., and Triton Stone New Orleans, LLC in the total amount of approximately $2.2 million.

4. Greenfield is the holder of a claim against the Debtor secured by a lien on all of the Debtor’s accounts, goods, inventory, merchandise, personal property, machinery, equipment, general intangibles, and proceeds from the foregoing (collectively, the “Collateral”). Prior to the Petition Date, Greenfield commenced a claim and delivery action against the Debtor, and, pursuant to a consent order, the state court appointed a receiver to liquidate the Collateral. Upon the commencement of the Debtor’s Chapter 11 case, the court-appointed receiver ceased his liquidation efforts.

5. On February 17, 2012, Triton filed its original motion to appoint a Chapter 11 trustee or, in the alternative, convert or dismiss this case (the “Original Motion”). [848]*848Dakota and Nikon subsequently filed a joinder in the Original Motion (the “Join-der”) and requested the same relief as Triton but also requested as an alternative the appointment of an Examiner pursuant to § 1104. The Debtor objected to both the Original Motion and the Joinder. Pri- or to the hearing, the Debtor and Greenfield reached a settlement regarding the Debtor’s use of cash collateral, which resolved the issue of whether the Debtor improperly used cash collateral to the substantial harm of one or more creditors. At the hearing on the Original Motion on March 15, 2012, Triton presented argument and some evidence of, among other things, improper payments made by the Debtor prepetition and raised issues regarding the Debtor’s accounting, including insufficient books and records. At the same hearing, the Debtor refuted the allegations by Triton, Dakota, and Nikon; attributed some problems to working in a receivership; and indicated that it was on the verge of acquiring a new lending source critical to a successful organization.

6.On March 23, 2012, the Court entered an order appointing an examiner, and, on March 30, 2012, George W. Durant was appointed as the independent examiner in this case (the “Examiner”).3 The Examiner is a certified public accountant with over 35 years of accounting experience that is also certified in financial forensics and accredited in business valuation. In addition, the Examiner is an experienced bankruptcy professional that has previously served as both an examiner and an expert witness before this Court. Between April 1, 2012 and May 23, 2012, the Examiner put forth a substantial effort in performing his duties and expended almost 250 hours in his examination of the Debtor and its financial affairs.4 On May 24, 2012, the Examiner filed his first report (the “First Report”).

7. In support of the Motion, the Examiner testified at the Hearing that the Debtor and its representatives failed to cooperate with several of his requests for information.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
492 B.R. 843, 2012 WL 8453340, 2012 Bankr. LEXIS 6181, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-congaree-triton-acquisitions-llc-scb-2012.