More than 95% of assets were sold by Tiger Group and partners Aaron Equipment, Rosen Systems and Perry Videx in a recent online auction for the assets of bankrupt ECS Refining’s former multi-medium recycling plant in Stockton.
The June 9th event drew 202 registrants from the U.S. and nine foreign countries-- Canada, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Ireland, Jordan, Mexico, Romania, Trinidad and Tobago, and United Arab Emirates. In the end, the 262,000-square-foot facility’s assets were purchased by 67 buyers from the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
“We were very pleased with the results, with the number of registrants, the sell-through percentage and revenues all exceeding our expectations,” said John Coelho, Senior Director at Tiger Group. “Given current challenges in the recycling market, we were extremely satisfied with the level of participation from both end-users and dealers. Any remaining assets will be disposed through private sales.”
He went on to note that facility’s most valuable asset, an e-waste line, was offered to buyers on both a bulk and piecemeal basis. “This generated significant bidding. In the end, the bulk buyer prevailed, delivering a higher price than the piecemeal bidders combined. The buyer will be reassembling the line in their East Coast facility,” Coelho said.
ECS filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2018 and subsequently closed Stockton and two other plants across the country. Tiger and its sale partners were involved in the turnkey sale last year of the company’s facility in Mesquite, Texas.
The Stockton facility included process lines for e-waste, TVs, glass and wood, along with forklifts, electric walk/ride low-lift pallet trucks and other material-handling equipment, office furniture and equipment. All equipment at the plant had been decontaminated in compliance with California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) specifications.
A once-prominent player in the recycling industry, ECS Refining started in Santa Clara, Calif. in the 1980s and served some of the biggest corporate clients in the country as an IT asset-management and disposition company, with a particular focus on the proper handling of data-sensitive hardware, noted David Goodman, Executive Vice President at Perry Videx.
“Whether handling electronic waste, glass/CRT or wood, the well-maintained lines at the Stockton plant employed the latest technology,” Goodman said. “We are gratified to have been able to team up with Tiger, Aaron Equipment and Rosen Systems on another very successful auction.”