On August 10, 2015, Thornton & Company, Inc. ("TCI" or "Company"), a leading international distributor, trader and wholesaler of plastic resins, providing a full offering of polyethylene and polypropylene products, based in Southington, Connecticut, filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 in Hartford, Connecticut.
"We have decided that the best way to try and repay our creditors as much money as possible is under bankruptcy protection," said J. Paul Thornton, Jr., President of TCI. "We proposed a plan to our banking group, led by Peoples United Bank, which would have let us stay in business and recover from certain market events, but they rejected it," said Thornton.
TCI will now likely undertake at least a partial orderly liquidation through the Chapter 11 process. "We are filing this case to try and bring value to our suppliers who have so generously supported us and worked with us. If we just do as Peoples Bank asks, our suppliers will get nothing." TCI has retained Gordian Group LLC as its financial advisor and investment banker and is currently soliciting offers to purchase the Company as a going concern, as well as seeking refinancing opportunities, and the Company is open to considering equity investment as well.
With a comprehensive network of 49 warehouse locations throughout the US and Canada, TCI had unique capabilities to fulfill and deliver on customer requirements. J. Paul Thornton, Jr. founded TCI in 1994. Since its founding TCI has grown into a major player in the plastics market through building close relationships with customers and suppliers. Over the past several years, TCI has expanded the scope of its operations internationally by expanding its sales force and developing proprietary products, which are industry leaders. TCI's 2014 sales were approximately $200 million.
Among other things, due to its over leveraged capital structure and a significant drop in petrochemical prices over the past 12 months or so that that saw prices decline over 20%, TCI needed to deal with its financial pressure by selling inventory on hand at a significant loss. TCI presented a going concern plan to repay suppliers and resolve its financial problems to Peoples United Bank in mid-July. Peoples United Bank (and it partner bank Farmington Savings Bank) rejected that plan necessitating the bankruptcy filing.