Court Authorizes Trainor Glass to Settle Accounts Receivable, Pay Certain Suppliers
June 8, 2012

by Penny Stacey, pstacey@glass.com

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois has issued an order authorizing Trainor Glass to
settle its accounts receivable and "to pay suppliers, as necessary, to obtain payment on the receivables."

Trainor had motioned for the authorization, noting that at the time of its bankruptcy filing, it "was owed several millions of dollars by [general contractors and developers] for the work performed on [various projects]."

"[Trainor Glass] has been diligently attempting to collect the receivables," writes the company. "The customers, however, in many instances, will not make any payment to the debtor unless the customer is assured that all of the suppliers are on a project are paid in full."

Additionally, Trainor had pointed out that some of the customers have refused to pay their receivables unless Trainor "provide[s] for the satisfaction of any warranty claims in existence or which may come into existence relating to [each] project."

Based on this, the company also sought authorization "to negotiate with each customer and settle a receivable by discounting the net balance (i.e., the difference between the amount of a receivable and the amount due all suppliers for a project) due to the debtor, up to a percentage that is agreed to by [lender] First Midwest Bank and the [unsecured creditors] committee."

According to the terms of the order, the company is authorized "to negotiate with a customer and settle a receivable by discounting the net balance due to the debtor up to the maximum discount percentage."

The order specifies that its terms will not conflict with or limit the rights of certain general contractors and developers that had subcontracted Trainor Glass for certain projects and has since hired substitute contractors to finish the work. Among those named are New York-based Skanska USA Building Inc., New York-based Turner Construction Co., Turner/Gilbane, a joint venture between Turner Construction and Providence, R.I.-based Gilbane, and Tompkins/Gilford, also a joint venture.

The court further specifies that the order will not interfere with these companies' rights to "pay substitute contractors, pay subcontractors and suppliers directly, and correct any defects as identified in warranty claims, with respect to the projects each has named in prior motions.