Florida Reprographics (Tampa, FL) files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

I guess this is just a "sign of the times."

Surfing the Internet, yesterday evening, for information and news related to the Reprographics Industry, I accidentally came across this:

Recent Chapter 11 Filings - Florida

Debtor: Florida Reprographics, Inc.
Bankruptcy Court District: Middle (Florida)
Filing Date: 11/30/10
Case Number: 10-28642
Attorney: Adam L Alpert (I'm pretty sure that he is with the Bush Ross law firm in Tampa)

I've just applied to reactivate my account with Pacer, the Government operated court-reporting system that one can use to access filings at all bankruptcy courts, but I'm not yet able to get on line because I'm waiting, waiting, waiting for Pacer to e-mail me my password to enter the system.

After I've read through the filings, it's highly likely that I will do a detailed post about the FR's BK.

The interesting thing about Chapter 11 is that the BK company does not have to pay its unsecured creditors a dime for anything purchased prior to the BK filing and the BK company has the opportunity, through "reorganization" to disavow (cancel) rental agreements, leasing obligations (for both real estate and equipment) and employment agreements. The BK Chapter 11 laws are "all about" giving the company a chance at a "fresh start." I'm not saying that creditors won't eventually get all or some of what they are owed. There have been many BK's where creditors eventually got everything they were owed, and, of course, many other BK's where creditors ended up getting a percentage, and sometimes a very, very small percentage, of what they were owed. So, a Chapter 11 BK gives the owner "breathing room" and a "fresh start." I've followed several BK's before, and, based on what I've observed over the years, most "customers" could care less. Some say there's a "stigma" attached to filing for BK. Maybe there is, but I've not seen customers switch vendors simply because their vendor filed for BK.

I wonder what the BK Court would say if a competitor of FR submitted an offer that would pay creditors 100% of what creditors are owed in return for ownership of the company?