COLUMBUS, Ohio — According to the Associated Press, negotiations with lenders on a financial deal to reopen Buckeye Steel Castings have failed and the 121-year-old plant will be put up for sale, officials said.
Company president Joe Harden said Monday he was hopeful a buyer could be found that will put the plant and its 700 employees back in business.
Otherwise, the plant could wind up being liquidated in pieces to the highest bidders, he conceded.
Buckeye Steel closed abruptly two weeks ago after a short-term financing deal with a group of lenders expired. The lenders refused to release any more money and froze Buckeye’s accounts.
In negotiations, the group of lenders was willing to accept less than the $42 million in debt that Buckeye Steel had established, but the two sides couldn’t agree on an amount, Harden said.
Bank of America, the lead bank in the lending group, has set a Nov. 4 sale date for Buckeye and its assets. But Harden said it will take longer for potential bidders to prepare offers.
Buckeye is one of just three companies that make undercarriages for railroad cars and one of them is in bankruptcy, Harden said. He’s sure that demand for the company’s product will increase once the economy improves.
“I am absolutely confident that sometime in the next year or two there will be a critical demand for products this company makes,” he said. “It is my belief that this plant will reopen.”