Kleen Laundry has filed for bankruptcy production, citing a “challenging time” with its primary commercial customer base — hospitals to which it provides linen and uniform cleaning services, Valley News (N.H.) reported today. Kleen said the chapter 11 reorganization would allow it to continue operating while it renegotiated its debt. No details were available as to the size of its debt or the amount of its debt payments. But the company has gone through two major transactions in the past 10 years — the first in a 2006 sale to a private investor and the second in a merger with a Manchester laundry service company in 2012. The cleaner was quickly granted permission by the bankruptcy court judge to use $52,000 in cash collateral to pay wages and state and federal taxes, in addition to $20,000 to pay for liquefied natural gas to power its equipment. Kleen provides linen and laundry service to 26 northern New England hospitals and operates laundromats and retail dry-cleaning services at outlets. Kleen submitted to the bankruptcy court a budget of about $1.9 million in operating expenses through Oct. 21. The company’s payroll is estimated to run about $58,000 per week. The bankruptcy filing also listed a total of approximately $2.3 million in unsecured claims held by the 20 largest creditors.
