Auction for Sale of Arch's Assets Scheduled for January 13 in Miami; Bids Due This Friday
January 4, 2010

An auction for the sale of Arch Aluminum & Glass's assets is scheduled for January 13 in Miami. Though Arch had named a stalking horse bidder for the purchase of its assets when it filed for bankruptcy on November 29, the auction will be held if one or more qualified bids-in addition to that of the stalking horse bidder, Arch Glass Acquisition Corp., an affiliate of Boulder, Colo.-based Grey Mountain Partners LLC-is received by the January 8 deadline. Bids must be filed by 5 p.m. Eastern Time on that day in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida.

The auction is scheduled for 10 a.m. on January 13 and will be held at the offices of Genovese Joblove & Battista P.A. A sale hearing-during which the court will need to approve the sale to the winning bidder-will follow at 9:30 a.m. on January 14 at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Bidders must submit several documents, including: a confidentiality agreement; a statement demonstrating their "bona fide interest in purchasing substantially all of the Purchased Assets" from Arch; written evidence that they have received debt and/or equity funding commitments or has "sufficient unrestricted cash to consummate the purchase;" and a letter identifying themselves and any other parties participating in the bid with them.

Court documents set forth several requirements for the bids themselves, as well, and note that a bid will not be considered a higher or better offer "unless such bid provides for the assumption of the same amount of liabilities that the Stalking Horse Bidder is assuming under the Purchase Agreement and provides for net consideration … to the Debtors' estates of at least $100,000 more than the sum of the (i) cash portion of the purchase price provided by the Stalking Horse Bidder in the Purchase Agreement, plus (ii) the amount of the Break Up Fee … plus (iii) the amount of the Expense Reimbursement … "

Those who wish to participate in the bidding process were required to have filed their notice of interest by today at 5 p.m. Eastern Time.

In an earlier filing in the case, Arch indicated that it had begun gathering bids prior to the filing to determine who the stalking horse bidder might be, and had initially received 16 indications of interest, and five final bids as of November 17, prior to choosing the Grey Mountain affiliate (CLICK HERE for related story).

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