In re Polycast Corp.

289 F. Supp. 707, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12590
CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedMay 9, 1968
DocketNo. 33718
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 289 F. Supp. 707 (In re Polycast Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Polycast Corp., 289 F. Supp. 707, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12590 (D. Conn. 1968).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION APPROVING CHAPTER X PLAN OF REORGANIZATION

TIMBERS, Chief Judge.

The trustee in reorganization for The Polycast Corporation having submitted to the Court a plan of reorganization and amendments thereto, and a hearing having been held thereon, pursuant to Section 169 of Chapter X of the Bankruptcy Act, 52 Stat. 890, 11 U.S.C. § 569, the Court approves the plan and fixes June 6, 1968 as the date by which acceptances shall be filed by creditors. Specifically, the Court finds, pursuant to Section 174 of Chapter X, 52 Stat. 891, 11 U.S.C. § 574, that the plan, as amended, complies with the provisions of Section 216 of Chapter X, 52 Stat. 895, 11 U.S.C. § 616, and is fair, equitable and feasible. In so finding, the Court determines that The Polycast Corporation is insolvent.

On the basis of the hearings held on April 1 and 15, 1968 for consideration of the plan of reorganization and any objections thereto and on the basis of all papers filed with the Court pursuant to the reorganization of The Polycast Corporation, including written objections to the plan, the Court makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law.

FINDINGS OF FACT

(1) On September 6, 1966, The Poly-cast Corporation, a Connecticut corporation, filed a petition in this Court for reorganization under Chapter X of the Bankruptcy Act, 52 Stat. 883-905, 11 U. S.C. §§ 501-676. On September 12, 1966, the Court approved the petition. On September 15, 1966, the Court appointed B. Edwin Sackett as trustee and authorized the trustee to operate and manage the property of Polycast in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in the order of appointment.

(2) Prior to commencement of reorganization proceedings, Polycast manufactured cast acrylic sheet and photographic filters. By the time of the trustee’s appointment, all operations of the corporation had ceased and all employees had been dismissed. Cash in the bank available to the trustee amounted to $593. The tangible assets of the corporation, including machinery, inventory, furniture and other fixtures, were subject to a lien filed one year earlier by E. I. duPont deNemours, a major creditor. All accounts receivable had been pledged to a financial factor.

(3) The trustee found that it would not be feasible to reinstitute the manufacture of acrylic sheet under the previously used methods of production. Efforts therefore were directed toward the development of a new process of manufacture which had been devised by John O. Beattie, President of Polycast, and which was in an early stage of development at the time the petition was filed. The trustee contacted over forty companies in an unsuccessful effort to obtain [709]*709financing for development of the process.

(4) With the help of Mr. Beattie and his wife and Paul R. Daddona, the trustee produced and sold photographic filters in sufficient quantity to permit the plant to be kept open. Although such production and sale continues to date, it is not expected to exceed $60,000 a year in volume. It was apparent to the trustee upon his appointment, and is apparent to him and the Court now, that this operation alone is not a feasible basis for the reorganization of Polycast.

(5) The Court, agreeing with the trustee’s determination that the security interest of E. I. duPont deNemours & Company was valid and exceeded the value of the assets to which it attached, authorized the trustee, by order of November 15, 1966, as amended by order of November 30, 1966, to abandon property subject to that security interest. The order, however, required duPont to offer certain specified equipment needed in the development of the new acrylic sheet process to the trustee or his designee at the price of $17,500. This equipment was purchased by Paul R. Daddona, with the consent of the trustee, and thereafter was loaned by him to Polycast for its use without charge.

(6) At the time the reorganization petition was filed, the corporation’s offices and plant occupied 77,000 square feet in premises at 69 Southfield Avenue, Stamford, Connecticut. The lease for this space with the landlord, Dora Jacobson, represented an expense of $90,000 a year to the corporation. Upon determining that this space exceeded that needed for the continued operations of Polycast, the trustee filed a petition to reject the lease. This petition was granted by the Court by order of December 28, 1966 and the rejection became effective December 31, 1966. Prior to this time, however, the trustee entered into an agreement with Dora Jacobson for the lease of approximately 14,000 square feet in the basement of the same premises on a month-to-month basis at a rental of approximately $1,500 per month.

(7) The new process for the casting of acrylic sheet has now been developed to the point where three machines are in actual production. This development has been possible only because of the contribution of time, effort and funds by Mr. and Mrs. Beattie, Paul R. Dad-dona, Anthony Daddona and other members of an investor group. These people contributed the material and labor necessary to construct the machines and have loaned them to the trustee without cost. In fact, the only equipment now owned by the trustee is that used for the production of photographic filters, a boiler, and a typewriter, all having a total value of $22,000.

(8) Sales of acrylic sheet produced by the new process and machines, together with sales of photographic filters, totaled $455,598 for the year ending December 31, 1967. The net profit on these sales, as shown on the unaudited income statement for that year, amounted to $74,734. This figure, however, was computed without provision for the cost of the machinery and equipment on loan without charge to the trustee or for the cost of services of Paul R. Daddona and others which also was contributed without charge. Furthermore, it does not reflect any deductions for trustee’s fees or administrative expenses.

(9) The trustee has reasonably projected for the calendar year 1968 net sales of $1,065,154 and a net profit (before allowance for any federal taxes) of $154,558.

(10) With the present plant facilities but with the addition of two machines to the three already in production, the trustee reasonably estimates that the maximum annual sales volume cannot exceed $1,500,000, with a maximum foreseeable profit of 15 percent of sales [710]*710(before taxes).1 Such volume of sales and profit could foreseeably be reached by 1969.

(11) While the new process for the production of acrylic sheet makes reorganization of Polycast feasible, it is by no means a revolutionary process. Larger, well-established companies in the field, such as Rohm & Haas Co., American Cyanamid Company, Cast Optics Division of Escambia Chemical Corporation and National Lead Corporation, produce acrylic sheet by their own successful methods of continuous casting and extrusion. Competition from these sources in all markets will be keen. Furthermore, to date all sales by Poly-cast of acrylic sheet produced by the new process have been to agencies or departments of the United States Government.

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Related

In Re Polycast Corporation
289 F. Supp. 712 (D. Connecticut, 1968)

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Bluebook (online)
289 F. Supp. 707, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12590, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-polycast-corp-ctd-1968.