The new owner of the North Carolina poultry operations once owned by Townsend has set a two month deadline to sell the facility.
Rabin Worldwide, an auction company based in San Francisco, cast the winning bid of $5.36 million for the assets of Omtron USA, which filed for bankruptcy. That transaction is expected to close in September. The company was the lone bidder for poultry operations in Mocksville, Pittsboro and Siler City.
"Rabin plans to sell off the various assets over the next few months, which include land, buildings, equipment and rolling stock," said Michael Bank, a senior vice president with Rabin.
Omtron, a US company owned by Ukranian billionaire Oleg Bakhmatyuk, bought the Townsend assets out of bankruptcy in February 2011. But Bakhmatyuk abandoned plans to enter the US poultry market due to volatility in the corn market. Omtron invested $10 million in the Siler City and Mocksville plants before announcing plans to close both facilities. The company said it was unable to cover production costs.
Rabin Worldwide recently sold about 80 percent of the equipment in the Siler City plant to Ozark Mountain Poultry, which plans to transfer the machinery to their facility in Arkansas. "Rabin is also actively seeking buyers for the Siler City plant and an adjacent office building," Bank said.
The processing facilities and all equipment in the Pittsboro location will be auctioned off, in addition to the surrounding 534 acres of land which border the Chatham Park development, a new business and residential park that is planned for Pittsboro.
Bank said Rabin hopes to find a buyer for the entire Mocksville facility, including the remaining equipment. The company also plans to sell two feed mills and a truck repair depot. Rabin will auction any remaining assets that haven't been sold Oct. 2-3.
