Stephen Shires put his company, S.E. Shires Inc., into bankruptcy last week, telling a bankruptcy judge that the instrument maker has a purchase offer worth more than $1 million from an Eastman Music Co. division that intends to keep the business operating, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. The 40-worker company filed for chapter 11 protection last week after tax collectors — in pursuit of unpaid debts — went after the company’s bank account. Turned away by traditional lenders, the company borrowed money instead through factoring companies that provide temporary financing “at an unsustainable interest rate of 20 to 40 percent.” Last year, the company had sales of $2.8 million but lost about $379,000, according to court papers. The purchase offer from Eastman Brass Instruments Inc. would give the company $1 million in cash to pay its debts. The buyer also agreed to extend a $230,000 bankruptcy loan and to help the company get another $700,000 loan later.
