Kane Beef Processing and potential buyers of the plant will meet at the Federal Courthouse in Houston today for the auction of the Kane Beef company.
Kane Beef’s court-appointed receiver, former Judge Richard Schmidt told KRIS 6 that the meeting will begin promptly at 9 a.m. with a hearing to follow afterward. The goal is to have a new owner for Kane Beef by the end of the day.
On Kane Beef’s Facebook page, their last post was on February 1, informing employees about the auction with hopes of operating status by Thursday morning.
Potential buyers have different ideas for what to do with the Kane plant, Schmidt said.
“There are two kinds of purchasers that are looking at the plant,” Schmidt said. “Those to operate and those to tear it apart and perhaps sell it overseas to whoever wants to operate a plant somewhere else.”
He says he hopes the plant is sold in the right situation.
“We have an obligation to get the best possible price for the creditors,” Schmidt said. ” But I also want to get a plant that operates for all these employees.”
Kane Beef filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Jan. 29. During this filing, Kane Beef said it had between 100-199 creditors ranging from $50 million to $100 million.
Since last Tuesday, 726 workers at the plant have been furloughed.
One Kane Beef employee, who wants to go by the name Marie, says she is hoping to begin work after the auction.
“I really enjoy this company,” she says with a smile. Marie has only been working at the processing plant for a month but says with her credentials it’s hard to find a job and Kane Beef has a lot of “upsides.”
Marie has been keeping track of the updates on the Kane Beef website and Facebook page but is curious what will happen next.
Schmidt remains tight-lipped about potential buyers for the plant.
“I can’t tell you who the bidders are at the present time because that is confidential information,” Schmidt said. “I can’t tell you what the amounts of the bids are, that’s also confidential information.”
Schmidt says he hopes there will be a settlement for Kane by the end of today and that employees will have a definite answer on Thursday.
