Bankrupt Five Rivers Sees Reorganization Plan Filing by June
Five Rivers Electronic Innovations expects to file a bankruptcy reorganization plan by June as it moves to recover from a downturn in the direct-view CRT business and Philips’ scrapping its LCoS development program, company officials said.
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Details of the proposed plan haven’t been completed, but the Greeneville, Tenn., contract manufacturer’s goal is “to pay everybody 100%” of what they're owed, CEO Thomas Hopson said. Five Rivers’ biggest creditor is Philips Austria Creative Display Solutions ($9.2 million), which had been charged with developing the Philips LCoS products abandoned last year.
Five Rivers’ had assembled Philips’ LCoS-based rear projection TVs, and the decision to end the program was among the reasons it had to file for bankruptcy last fall. Five Rivers said it had $25.5 million liabilities and 215 creditors. It expects to receive money late this year from the U.S. Treasury stemming from duties collected on Chinese-made TVs. The International Trade Commission voted last year to impose duties on direct-view TVs made in China, throwing support behind an antidumping petition filed in 2003 by Five Rivers and labor unions representing workers at Sanyo and Toshiba TV plants in Forrest City, Ark., and Horseheads, N.Y., respectively.
Five Rivers’ factory has shifted to 4-day work weeks, reducing its workforce to 506 from 774 at the end of 2004, Hopson said. Peak employment was 1,041 in Nov. The plant, which assembles TVs for Samsung and Akai, is operating 3 production lines, each on one shift. The factory also does work for EcoQuest International, a Greeneville marketer of air and water purifiers. “We'll be able to handle everything that’s coming and keep our overhead costs reduced to get through this low time of the season,” said Hopson, referring to the manufacturing lull ahead of the delivery of new TVs for the fall season.
Five Rivers also received assembled about 2,000 TVs for Hong Kong-based SmartVision Technologies, which has yet to take the 27” HD-ready sets. Five Rivers secured the order after meeting with SmartVision at CES in Jan. but isn’t sure whether the company landed retail distribution for the TVs, Hopson said. SmartVision officials weren’t immediately available for comment.