North Pacific seeks approval to sell more assets

North Pacific Group is seeking court approval of two deals valued at nearly $6 million for parts of its building products businesses in Indianapolis and Columbus, Ohio.

In documents filed Monday in U.S. District Court, the Portland-based wood products distributor said it reached asset purchase agreements on Feb. 26 with F.P. Supply LLC, a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Millman Lumber Co.

According to the proposed deals, F.P. Supply would acquire the inventory, accounts receivable and equipment from North Pacific’s building products operations in both Indianapolis and Columbus. The deal is valued at $4.7 million if it closes by March 19, the date of a federal court hearing to approve the sale.

In a separate agreement. F.P. Supply would acquire the Indianapolis real estate related to North Pacific’s building products operations there for $1.15 million in cash. A hearing on that sale is scheduled for April 1.

Each of the deals could be subject to an auction on the day of their court hearings should other qualified bidders surface, according to court documents.

Once Oregon's third-largest private business, North Pacific had nearly $1 billion in 2008 revenue. But it was forced into receivership on Jan. 20 after a consortium of lenders, led by Wells Fargo Capital Finance, filed a lawsuit claiming the company and its subsidiaries defaulted on loans.

U.S. District Court Judge Anna J. Brown signed a court order putting Lake Oswego-based crisis management firm Edward Hostmann Inc. in charge of the employee-owned company.

When it was put into receivership, North Pacific owed the lender group about $42 million, a figure that by Feb. 10 had narrowed to $30 million.

The proposed deals announced Monday could make the lender group whole again.

North Pacific won court approval on Thursday on an asset sale that could net between $20 million and $25 million for the lender group while saving an estimated 100 jobs, many of which are in Portland. At the high-end, the deals reached so far total $30.85 million.

In the deal approved last week, North Pacific sold its food and agriculture and utility and construction units, and the Portland-based portions of its hardwood and industrial products unit to a subsidiary of Connecticut-based Atlas Holdings LLC working under the name Bridgewell Resources LLC.

The deals reached so far don’t include portions of North Pacific’s building products division, its hardwood lumber and flooring manufacturing operations in Arkansas and Missouri, or its Southern Trading Unit — which has been accused of distributing a small amount of contaminated drywall products imported form China.