Fisker Automotive Inc., the bankrupt maker of hybrid luxury cars, received a $55 million offer for its assets from Hybrid Tech Holdings LLC as an auction looms.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross in Wilmington, Delaware, may set a date for the auction as soon as today. Hybrid, controlled by Richard Li, son of Hong Kong’s richest man, said it would pay $25 million through a credit bid and the rest in cash, according to court papers filed today.
Fisker’s official committee of unsecured creditors on Dec. 30 proposed a sale process naming Wanxiang America Corp. as the “stalking-horse,” or lead, bidder with an offer of $25.8 million. Wanxiang later boosted the bid to $35.8 million in cash. On Jan. 10, Gross limited the amount of debt Hybrid could include in the purchase to $25 million.
Fisker, based in Anaheim, California, filed in Chapter 11 on Nov. 22, listing debt of as much as $1 billion and assets of less than $500 million. It blamed the bankruptcy of a battery supplier, safety recalls and shipments lost to Hurricane Sandy.
Fisker missed the first payment on a low-interest U.S loan in April. It had drawn about $192 million of an initial loan commitment of $529 million from a program intended to spur production of alternative-energy vehicles.
Fisker was denied the rest of the money in 2011 after missing milestones for its Karma luxury model. Hybrid bought $168.5 million in debt remaining on the loan from the government for $25 million.
The bankruptcy case is In re Fisker Automotive Holdings Inc., 13-bk-13087, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington).
