Icon (Close Menu)

Logout

Turner Grain’s Bankruptcy Converted to Chapter 7 Liquidation

2 min read

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Phyllis M. Jones approved a request Thursday to convert Turner Grain Merchandising Inc.’s bankruptcy case from reorganization to Chapter 7 liquidation.

The acting trustee, Daniel Casamatta, said in a motion filed in February that Turner Grain had “ceased operations and there is no likelihood or intent for rehabilitation or reorganization.”

Keeping the company in Chapter 11 is just costing the company additional administrative expenses, he said in the filing. 

Turner was forced into receivership in September, and then it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Oct. 23, listing $24.8 million in debts and $13.8 million in assets.

Turner Grain of Brinkley was referred to in the industry as a “principal” or “jobber” rather than a broker. A jobber actually contracts to buy and take possession of a farmer’s grain and delivers it to the ultimate buyer.

Casamatta also complained in his motion that Turner Grain hasn’t filed monthly operating reports as required.

“Operating reports are a source of vital financial information which creditors and other parties in interest may access in order to make an informed decision on the merits of the debtor’s disclosure statement and plan,” he wrote.

Jason Coleman and Dale C. Bartlett founded Turner Grain in 2002. Bartlett said in testimony in his personal bankruptcy case that he sold his share of the company for just $5,000 in February 2014, months before angry farmers began suing Turner Grain for millions of dollars owed on crops.

Bartlett filed for his own bankruptcy protection on Sept. 5 and listed $5.5 million in debts and $2 million in assets. 

In April, Bartlett’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case was converted to Chapter 7 liquidation.

Coleman hasn’t filed for bankruptcy protection.

Kevin Keech of North Little Rock, the bankruptcy attorney for Turner Grain, didn’t immediately return a call for comment.

Send this to a friend