Having revealed its debts are closer to $50 million than the $20 million initially reported, Adams Produce Co. LLC requested that its Chapter 11 reorganization be converted to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation.
The case includes as much as $16 million in debts to produce suppliers. About $12 million of that is due to suppliers who have claims covered by the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. Pro*Act LLC, Monterey, Calif., is the largest PACA creditor, with about $5 million in claims.
During a May 31 hearing, Judge Tamara Mitchell said she is “sort of assuming” she will grant the motion to convert the case. None of the parties present raised any objections to the conversion. Mitchell set a hearing on the conversion for June 14.
To move the case as quickly as possible, the judge said she would do conflict of interest reports for the court’s two available bankruptcy trustees so a trustee could be appointed in time for the June 14 hearing.
Produce suppliers who have not yet filed PACA claims against Adams Produce can still file. Eventually, however, the court will set a cutoff date.
Lawyers for Adams Produce filed the motion to convert the bankruptcy to a Chapter 7 case at 3:30 p.m. May 30, giving the judge and interested parties little time to consider it before the 9:30 a.m. May 31 hearing.
The judge has estimated the total number of creditors in the case at about 1,400.
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