Last month, a bankruptcy judge removed Kyle Lewis from control of Lewis Equipment Co., Dallas, Texas, after it was argued successfully by secured lender Frost National Bank that the company had used millions more in the bank’s cash collateral than it replaced. A BusinessWeek article reported that the bankruptcy judge had also terminated the company’s right to use cash.
Frost says it is owed $27.7 million, and initiated the process that ended in Lewis’ ouster because an examiner’s report exhibited mismanagement, justifying a trustee. An appointed trustee reached a tentative agreement with the San Antonio, Texas, bank to use cash through the end of March according to a budget. The BusinessWeek article reports that the trustee claimed that without the cash he could not operate any segment of the business, and he believes the company’s operations can be made cash-flow positive.
It was reported in Texas Construction that the crane company filed for Chapter 11 protection late last year, in a petition that stated assets and liabilities both exceed $100 million, and debts are primarily business-related. A provider of tower, mobile, and crawler cranes, Lewis is the North American dealer for China-made SunCrane tower cranes and Zoomlion truck, crawler, and all-terrain cranes.
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