💥New Chapter 11 Bankruptcy - Vobev LLC💥
Vertically-integrated canner files for BK with Ares set to credit bid $150mm.
Hold up y’all. Forget about New Jersey. Or even Texas and Delaware. We’ve got a new hot bankruptcy jurisdiction in the mix: The District of Utah (Judge Marker)! We didn’t have that one on our ‘24 bingo card!!
That’s right, on December 9, 2024, a major NY-based law firm, Ropes & Gray LLP, filed Salt Lake City-based Vobev LLC (“Vobev” or the “debtor”) for chapter 11 bankruptcy in Utah. But before you get all excited about sordid P.O. boxes or some other nefarious f*ckery as the basis for venue, the debtor is a Utah LLC pursuant to the Utah Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act. So, sadly — for us anyway — there’s nothing to see here from a venue perspective, folks.
So why mention it at all? Because, given all of the venue shenanigans over the past several years, it’s awfully hard not to be cynical about these things. That, in and of itself, is a commentary about the state of the restructuring industry. Don’t @ us.
What is there to see here? Just the demise of a company you likely never heard of. Which may be a bit strange given how it’s apparently the world’s biggest (self-proclaimed) disrupter!
LOL. Gotta love the chutzpah.
Dying to know more? Yeah, so were we. The debtor offers integrated beverage can production, filling and warehousing capacity at a single location. That’s right: vertical integration is apparently its edge! The ability to not just manufacture cans but also fill them apparently obviates the need for transport to a second facility and cuts down on freight costs in the chain. Toss in warehousing* and the traditional canning chain is completely … wait for it … disrupted!!