Deals with Vendors, Founders Kept EI In Business, Court Told
UTICA, NY — Endicott Interconnect Technologies' interim head told a bankruptcy court that the company has failed to turn a profit since 2008, and has continued to exist on the backs of loans and by cutting deals with vendors.
EI's workers have also paid a price: The number of employees at the printed circuit board fabricator and assembler has dropped by more than half in the pasy 18 months. The company now employs 570 workers, still well above the industry norm for a firm with revenues below $100 million.
Chief restructuring offers David Van Rossum told the court that since 2008 EI has received more than $50 million in loans, including $16 million in the past two years, most of which came from its founders, to keep the company running.
Some of that money has made its way back into debtors' hands. Local media outlet Press Connects pointed out that in the weeks before EI filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the company paid some $18 million to its former and current owners, including $8 million to a new entity launched by majority shareholder James Matthews in March.
While EI's Chapter 11 filing paperwork lists more than 300 creditors, none attended the hearing, according to Press Connects.
EI management is due back in court tomorrow, when it will detail a bid by Integrian Holdings to acquire the assets for a sum of $250,000 and the assumption of certain liabilities.
Integrian Holdings' primary shareholder? James Matthews.
