U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Ben Barry on Thursday ordered the liquidation of Acme Holding Co., the parent company of Allied Bank of Mulberry.
His ruling converts Acme's 15-month Chapter 11 reorganization to Chapter 7 liquidation, which will entail the appointment of a trustee.
The order sets the stage for an auction of Acme's prime asset, its Allied Bank stock.
The Lex Golden family of Little Rock, which controls Acme and Allied, pledged all the bank's stock in 2010 as collateral for $5 million in two loans from Chambers Bank of Danville.
The Goldens put Acme into bankruptcy in April 2014 to prevent Chambers Bank from foreclosing on the delinquent loans, which now total more than $4.5 million.
Also supporting the conversion to Chapter 7 was C Holdings LLC, an affiliate of Chambers that holds a $1.4 million delinquent loan claim against Acme.
The third creditor favoring liquidation, Hildene Asset Management, represents the holders of trust-preferred securities with a claim of more than $3 million plus more than $236,000 in unpaid interest.
Acme initially listed total assets of $12.2 million and liabilities of $11.4 million in its Chapter 11 petition. Total assets have since fallen to nearly $8.3 million, according to its June 30 monthly report to the court.
The Goldens guided Allied Bank on an ascent to $189 million in assets in 2010 and its subsequent five-year plunge amid $11 million in losses.
Meanwhile, Blackmon Auctions continues today working to sell off parts of Allied'a portfolio of "Other Real Estate Owned." Notable northwest Arkansas properties on the block Friday include:
- Two tracts totaling roughly 3.5 acres in the 700 block of South Razorback Road in Fayetteville, appraised for $2.9 million;
- More than 27,000-SF of mixed office/retail/warehouse space off North McConnell Avenue in Fayetteville, appraised for $2.3 million;
- 8 acres off South 28th Street in Rogers, appraised for $1.4 million.
