IBC: Yucaipa and Teamsters bid, Grupo Bimbo not

Kansas City / MO. (ibt / gb) The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT | Washington) and The Yucaipa Companies LLC (Los Angeles) announced on Thursday that they have submitted a preliminary proposal for the reorganization of Interstate Bakeries Corporation (IBC). At the earlier Thursday Bimbo Bakeries USA had said, that it will not bid for IBC after reviewing IBC´s books.

The subsidiary of Mexican Grupo Bimbo in November was granted access to IBC management, facilities and advisers to conduct due diligence and prepare a possible bid for the Kansas City-based company. «Grupo Bimbo currently is not in a position to submit a bid for the purchase of IBC», the company now says.

After Bimbo has pulled out of the consortium planning to buy ailing IBC, Yucaipa and the Teamsters submitted their proposal, representing «a collaborative effort by Yucaipa and the Teamsters to identify a viable path for IBC to emerge from bankruptcy (since 2004 …) with the greatest likelihood of success and maximizes the value of IBC´s estate for creditors. Under the proposal, Yucaipa and the Teamsters will jointly and exclusively sponsor a plan of reorganization that provides for the payment in full of claims held by IBC´s senior secured lenders and values the business at an enterprise valuation of 580 million USD», the players say in a press release.

The release closes with standardized good-luck-statements from Jim Hoffa (Teamsters General President), Rich Volpe (IBT Teamsters Director of the Bakery and Laundry Conference) and Ron Burkle (managing partner of Yucaipa). Other parties interested in putting forth their own plans of reorganization for IBC have until January 15 to do so. If there are multiple bidders, there will be an auction on January 22. The bankruptcy court is scheduled to make a final determination on the prevailing bid at a January 29 hearing.