Omtron USA LLC, which acquired some of the assets of bankrupt Townsends, Inc. last year, filed for Chaper 11 protection in Wilmington, Delaware last week. Court documents listed assets of $10 million and debts of $50 million. Omtron USA, based in North Carolina, is a subsidiary of Ukrainian egg and egg-product producer Agroholding Avangard.
Ukrainian billionaire Oleg Bakhmatyuk owns Omtron, and he closed Townsends’ North Carolina operations in Siler City and Mocksville last year and laid off more than 1,100 workers. Omtron purchased Townsend’s operations for about $24.9 million, which included processing plants, hatcheries, and feed mills. Townsends liquidated under Chapter 7 provisions in 2011 after failing to successfully reorganize under its own Chapter 11 filing in December 2010. Townsends cited high feed prices as one factor that affected its business.
