Petroleum barge company Bouchard Transportation has postponed a bankruptcy court hearing on the sale of its assets as creditors lodged complaints about a recent auction, Reuters reported. A hearing on the sale of the company’s assets was scheduled to occur on Friday before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Jones in Houston but was bumped back to Aug. 2. A July 19 auction had resulted in a winning bid for 29 vessels from JMB Capital Partners for $115.3 million, according to court papers, but creditors say there were issues with the auction and that a better option may be out there. Bouchard filed for bankruptcy in September with $230 million in debt as the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing financial problems at the company that occurred after a barge explosion in 2017. The unsecured creditors’ committee said in an objection that the results of the auction do not appear to bode well for creditors. The committee said when the bankruptcy was filed, Bouchard believed it could provide full recoveries to unsecured creditors. “Unfortunately, after running an extended sale process and otherwise trying to turn the business around, the Debtors’ hope will be unrealized,” the committee said. The committee also took issue with Bouchard’s selection of a lead bid and its related fees less than a day before the auction occurred. The lead bid — which was not ultimately the winning bid, according to court papers — came from Hartree Partners. The offer was $110 million and included a 3% fee and $1.5 million in expense reimbursements if Hartree was outbid at the auction, which it ultimately was, the committee said.
