The Bellingham Herald reports that "a group of creditors still owed money from the Haggen bankruptcy is going after the grocer’s previous owner in court. The lawsuit filed in a Delaware Bankruptcy Court on Wednesday, Sept. 7, alleges that Comvest Group Holdings covertly siphoned away valuable real estate assets that Haggen acquired from Albertsons to benefit Comvest and not be used to pay back creditors."
The complaint says that "Comvest was more interested in a real estate play rather than expanding Haggen," the Herald writes. "According to the complaint, about $100 million is still owed to suppliers, landlords and laid-off employees. The lawsuit seeks to access those assets to pay those debts to unsecured creditors."
Comvest has not yet commented on the complaint.
The complaint says that "Comvest was more interested in a real estate play rather than expanding Haggen," the Herald writes. "According to the complaint, about $100 million is still owed to suppliers, landlords and laid-off employees. The lawsuit seeks to access those assets to pay those debts to unsecured creditors."
Comvest has not yet commented on the complaint.
- KC's View:
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I don't know the ins and outs of the deal, but it would not be hard to persuade me that when Comvest did the original deal, acquiring 146 stores from Albertsons that I thought from the beginning it would have no shot at operating successfully, it had to have a way to make money even if the chain collapsed. So, did these guys screw over creditors? Seems plausible to me. Did they protect themselves so that suits such as this one won't be successful? Wouldn't surprise me at all.
