In Re Inter-City Beverage Co., Inc.

209 B.R. 931, 1997 Bankr. LEXIS 990, 31 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 83, 1997 WL 378998
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Missouri
DecidedJuly 3, 1997
Docket18-61374
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 209 B.R. 931 (In Re Inter-City Beverage Co., Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Inter-City Beverage Co., Inc., 209 B.R. 931, 1997 Bankr. LEXIS 990, 31 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 83, 1997 WL 378998 (Mo. 1997).

Opinion

*932 ORDER

FRANK W. ROGER, Chief Judge.

General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) has filed a Motion to Amend Judgement and to Lift the Automatic Stay in which it seeks, in the alternative, that the Court make additional findings of fact under Fed. R. Bankr.P. 7052 as to this Court’s January 13,1997, order approving the sale of Debtors’ assets, or to alter or amend the order under Fed. R. Bankr.P. 9023 or for relief under Fed. R. Bankr.P. 9024, or for a new trial under Fed. R. Bankr.P. 9023, or for relief from the automatic stay pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 362. 1 Big Sky Holdings, LLC, filed a response and objection to GMAC’s motion. GMAC filed additional suggestions in support of its motion. Debtor did not file a response. After hearing on the motion, the Court makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Fed. R. Bankr.P. 7052.

As GMAC alleges, it is a secured creditor of Inter-City Beverage Co., Inc., one of the debtors herein, and holds a security interest in two vehicles, a 1994 Chevrolet Blazer and a 1996 Chevrolet Astro Van, pursuant to Installment Sales Contracts entered between Inter-City and GMAC. GMAC filed a proof of claim with respect to both vehicles. Inter-City has defaulted on both vehicles and has failed to make any payments on either of the contracts since July, 1996.

On January 13,1997, this Court entered an order authorizing the sale of certain assets of Inter-City (as well as co-debtor Metro Distributors) to Big Sky Holdings, LLC, free and clear of debts, charges, liens, claims, encumbrances and interests. As the parties are familiar with the facts surrounding this sale and the history of this case, further factual detail as to the background is unnecessary at this point. The sole issue now before the Court is whether the Purchase Agreement and order approving the sale of assets included the GMAC vehicles and if so, to what is GMAC entitled?

The first question is whether the Purchase Agreement, as approved by the Court, included the sale of GMAC’s vehicles to Big Sky. After motion and hearing, on January 13, the Court approved the sale of Debtor’s assets free and clear of all liens, debts, encumbrances and interests, obligations, liabilities, contractual commitments, and claims. “Assets” are defined in the Purchase Agreement at paragraph 1(b) as follows:

Subject to the provisions of Section 1(h) hereof relating to the Excluded Southern Equipment, and 1(e) hereof relating to claims and causes of action, the assets (“Assets”) shall include, without limitation, the Debtor’s interest in the following property, wherever located: real property (other than the Real Estate), personal property, equipment (including leasehold interests in equipment subject to capitalized leases to the extent assignable), merchandise inventory (the “Inventory”), executory contracts, leases, technology, processes, patents, trademarks, trade names and other intellectual property and all other assets, tangible and intangible, including distributorship rights and claims and causes of action (other than the claims and causes of action set forth in Section 1(e) hereof), accounts receivable, and cash on hand, used in connection with Debtor’s business and operations (the “Acquired Business”), provided that on or prior to the Due Diligence Deadline (as defined in Section 10(g)), Purchaser shall have the right to reject all or any portion of any of the Assets without adjustment of the Purchase Price, in which event such rejected Assets shall not be deemed Assets for purposes of this Agreement. Listed on the attached Exhibit 1(b) is a list of all Assets other than Inventory owned by the Debtor.

Exhibit 1(b) [actually denominated “1(B)” rather than “1(b)”] lists, among other things, “All tangible personal property other than items included on Southern Leasing Corporation promissory notes Nos. 46, 47 and 48.”

The Court finds that this language clearly includes the GMAC vehicles. Although the *933 vehicles were not specifically listed, the Agreement clearly contemplated the sale of all assets of the debtors except those expressly omitted. The vehicles were not expressly omitted. Unless an item was to be omitted from the sale, none of the assets were specifically mentioned. The Court finds, therefore, that the four corners of the agreement and order unquestionably demonstrate that the GMAC vehicles were included in the sale of assets to Big Sky.

The next question, then, is to what is GMAC entitled pursuant to its security interests and liens, and who is required to pay for it? Again, the language of the documents directly provides the answer to those issues. Under the clear language of the Purchase Agreement and the order, Big Sky took the vehicles free and clear of any security interest or hen held by GMAC against them. Consequently, Big Sky is not responsible to GMAC. It is equally clear that according to the January 13, 1997, order approving the sale, GMAC’s hens attached to the proceeds of the sale. The Order provides:

J. Except as otherwise set forth in the Purchase Agreement, all persons and entities holding Encumbrances of any kind and nature be and hereby are barred from asserting such Encumbrances against Purchaser and/or the Assets and, effective upon the transfer of the Assets to Purchaser at the Closing, the Encumbrances shall attach to the proceeds of the Sale with the same force, validity, priority and effect, if any, as the Encumbrances formerly had against the Assets. K. This Order: (a) is and shall be effective as a determination that, upon Closing, all Encumbrances existing as to the Assets conveyed to Purchaser have been and hereby are adjudged and declared to be unconditionally released, discharged and terminated, and that the conveyances described herein have been made free and clear of all such Encumbrances, with the Encumbrances to attach to the proceeds of the Sale----

“Encumbrances” is defined in the Purchase Agreement as including “liens, debts, encumbrances and interests, obligations, liabilities, contractual commitments, [and] claims ..." and would therefore include GMAC’s hens and security interests. Consequently, it is apparent from this language that Big Sky took the vehicles free of GMAC’s security interests and hens and that those security interests followed the proceeds of the sale into the hands of the debtor. As a result, the Court finds that under the terms of the Purchase Agreement and order authorizing the sale, the debtor is hable to GMAC for the value of the hens.

GMAC presented testimony that the outstanding balances on the Blazer and Astro van are $17,552.86 and $17,220.71, respectively, and the NADA retail values are $17,300 and $15,525.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
209 B.R. 931, 1997 Bankr. LEXIS 990, 31 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 83, 1997 WL 378998, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-inter-city-beverage-co-inc-mowb-1997.