By Michael Lauzon
CORRESPONDENT
Published: October 30, 2013 3:01 pm ET
Updated: October 30, 2013 3:03 pm ET
Custom injection molder Tarheel Plastics LLC has taken the first step to liquidate its assets.
The Lexington, N.C., firm voluntarily filed for Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code on Oct. 24 in North Carolina. The bankruptcy petition was made three weeks after Tarheel shut its doors when a French firm decided not to buy it.
IP3 of Lyon, France, had said in early September that it was interested in buying the Lexington facility, but it subsequently changed its mind after conducting due diligence.
Tarheel, formed in 2009, supplied automotive, electrical, electronic, appliance and construction markets. Its capabilities included multi shot and insert injection molding, in-mold decoration, gas assist molding, ultrasonic welding, painting and reusable packaging. It employed between 70 and 100.
In court records Tarheel lists 24 presses in Lexington, ranging from 110 to 1,450 tons and including electric machines, as new as 2004. Value of the presses and a range of other production and testing equipment was listed at $1.51 million. Total physical assets are worth $2.47 million, Tarheel estimates in its petition.
The firm’s liabilities are about $3.55 million. The major secured creditor is High Point Bank & Trust Co. of High Point, N.C., with its claim of $1.51 million attached to the machinery. The other secured creditor is Crestmark Bank of Troy, Mich., with a claim of about $767,200.
A creditors’ meeting is scheduled for Dec. 6 in Winston-Salem, N.C. Trustee in bankruptcy is W. Joseph Burns of Winston-Salem.
IP3 had said it wanted to buy the molding operation to diversify into appliances and set up in the southeast U.S. market. Its North American operation is in Querétaro, Mexico.
Tarheel in 2009 purchased the Lexington operation formerly run by now-defunct custom injection molder Moll Industries Inc. | 
