Kendall v. Sorani (In Re Richmond Produce Co.)

142 A.L.R. Fed. 715, 195 B.R. 455, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5436, 1996 WL 191003
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedApril 9, 1996
DocketC93-3845 MMC, C93-3852 MMC and C94-0428 MMC
StatusPublished
Cited by49 cases

This text of 142 A.L.R. Fed. 715 (Kendall v. Sorani (In Re Richmond Produce Co.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kendall v. Sorani (In Re Richmond Produce Co.), 142 A.L.R. Fed. 715, 195 B.R. 455, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5436, 1996 WL 191003 (N.D. Cal. 1996).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

WILLIAM W SCHWARZER, District Judge.

John T. Kendall, the Chapter 11 trustee of Richmond Produce Company, Inc., brought a bankruptcy proceeding to avoid an allegedly fraudulent transfer in connection with a leveraged buyout of the debtor company. Following a ten-day bench trial, the bankruptcy court found that Bank of California, N.A., (“BanCal”) was an immediate transferee in a fraudulent transfer of the company’s property under federal and state law, and held BanCal liable to the trustee for $1.5 million plus prejudgment interest. BanCal appeals the judgment on several grounds. The trustee filed a limited cross appeal and appeals the bankruptcy court’s order staying the judgment pending appeal. This court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 158(a) and affirms.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The facts are essentially undisputed. Richmond Produce Company, Inc. (“RPC”), a produce wholesaler, was owned by Donald and Patricia Sorani. In 1987, the Soranis agreed to sell their RPC stock to John W. Clow for approximately $4 million, about $2 million of which was to be paid in cash at the close of escrow and the remaining $2 million to be evidenced by a promissory note (“Clow note”) secured either by a letter of credit for the full amount of the note or by a security agreement covering all RPC stock and all stock owned by Clow in a separate specified investment. The Soranis originally agreed to allow Clow to choose between the two. However, because the Soranis later believed the value of RPC assets to have decreased, they insisted at the close of escrow on December 3, 1987 that Clow obtain a letter of credit to secure the Clow note.

During the fall of 1987, Clow assumed control of RPC and attempted to obtain a line of credit to pay the cash portion of the purchase price. He received offers from three banks, including BanCal, but ultimately decided to obtain a short term loan from Imperial Bank to be made to RPC for $1.5 million. He collateralized the loan with a personal certificate of deposit from Imperial Bank.

In January 1988, Clow began negotiating with BanCal for the issuance of a letter of credit to secure the Clow note. Walter Reed, a BanCal loan officer, expressed concern about the enforceability of the transaction, specifically, whether RPC, which was to provide the funds to secure the letter of credit, would receive any benefit from it. He referred the matter to James Purvis in Ban-Cal’s legal department, who consulted the law firm of Cooper, White & Cooper. Ed Wynne of the Cooper firm, which represented both Clow and RPC, wrote Purvis a letter stating that Clow’s personal funds would be used to secure the letter of credit and that the letter of credit would substantially benefit RPC. Purvis then advised Reed that the transaction was sound.

On March 11, 1988, Mechanics Bank advanced RPC a $1.5 million line of credit, which was secured by all of RPC’s assets and Clow’s personal guaranty and deposited into RPC’s general checking account at Mechanics Bank. Clow then issued and delivered to Mechanics Bank a $1.5 million RPC corporate check payable to BanCal. Mechanics Bank negotiated the corporate check and issued a $1.5 million cashier’s check (“cashier’s check”) payable to BanCal. Listed on the cashier’s check as remitter was “Clow-Richmond Produce”. Clow delivered the cashier’s check to BanCal, purchasing a certificate of deposit in his own name, and pledging the CD (“BanCal CD”) as security for a letter of credit.

Shortly after the close of escrow in early December 1987, RPC began experiencing cash flow problems resulting in a substantially lower credit rating, which exacerbated the *460 problems and left RPC with insufficient cash and credit to carry on business. In December 1988, RPC failed to pay its first installment real property taxes, constituting a default under its lease with the Soranis. The Soranis gave notice of default, and when it was not cured, made demand on the letter of credit. BanCal paid the Soranis and enforced its security interest in the BanCal CD.

In the end, Clow owned the Soranis’ RPC stock, BanCal was paid in full, the Soranis received $1.5 million, and RPC had $1.5 million less cash. RPC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and the trustee brought a proceeding seeking to avoid the $1.5 million transfer under both 11 U.S.C. § 548(a)(2)(B) and Cal.Civ.Code §§ 3439.04(b) and 3439.05 (the state analogs of section 548(a)(2)), the state claims being assertable by virtue of 11 U.S.C. § 544(b). Recovery against BanCal was sought under 11 U.S.C. § 550(a).

BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS

After a ten-day bench trial, the bankruptcy court found the events of March 11, 1988 to constitute a fraudulent transfer of RPC’s property under section 548(a)(2) and the analogous California law. 1 In re Richmond Produce Co., Inc., 151 B.R. 1012 (Bankr. N.D.Cal.1993). It reasoned that since RPC (i.e., Clow) could have returned the cashier’s cheek to Mechanics Bank any time before its delivery to BanCal, Clow’s delivery and Ban-Cal’s receipt of the cashier’s check effectuated the transfer of RPC funds. That transfer, the court stated, did not “provide[] [RPC] with value ‘reasonably equivalent’ to its loss of $1.5 million in cash” under § 548(a)(2)(A).

The court further found that although the evidence was inconclusive as to whether RPC was insolvent on March 11,1988, the transfer rendered RPC insolvent by adding the Mechanics Bank loan and reducing shareholders’ equity. The court specifically rejected the argument that Clow’s “obligation” to repay RPC should be considered a corresponding debit entry, since Clow never assumed such an obligation and had no realistic ability to repay RPC within a reasonable time. It also found RPC to be undercapitalized, its operations apparently “to have been doomed from the time the December 3, 1987 escrow closed.” 151 B.R. at 1020.

Finally, the court found that BanCal was not an initial but an immediate transferee of the cashier’s check, and therefore BanCal was entitled to establish a “good faith” defense under section 550(b)(1). 2 It held that while BanCal participated in the transfer in good faith and for value, it failed to establish a defense since it did not act without knowledge of the voidability of the transfer. “Ban-Cal had extensive knowledge of [RPC’s] financial condition ... [and] knew the details *461 of the December 3, 1987 sale and the fact that Clow intended to heavily leverage his purchase of [RPC] stock.” Thus, BanCal was “on notice that the proposed transfer would render [RPC] insolvent and/or under-capitalized.” 151 B.R. at 1022.

Accordingly, the bankruptcy court held BanCal liable to the trustee for $1.5 million plus prejudgment interest from March 11, 1988. 3

ISSUES ON APPEAL

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
142 A.L.R. Fed. 715, 195 B.R. 455, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5436, 1996 WL 191003, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kendall-v-sorani-in-re-richmond-produce-co-cand-1996.