U.S. Tobacco Cooperative (USTC), after being approved by the bankruptcy court for the Cooperative’s chapter 11 reorganization plan, has announced that it has successfully exited bankruptcy, CStore Decisions reported. The USTC originally filed for bankruptcy protection in July 2021 in order to meet contractual obligations to its member growers while the company addressed uncertainty presented by the ongoing Lewis class action lawsuit. In accordance with the plan, the USTC will pay in full its secured lenders, suppliers and unsecured creditors in addition to settlement amounts to the Lewis Class. USTC is a grower-owned marketing cooperative located in Raleigh, N.C., that processes U.S. flue-cured tobacco grown by its 500-plus member growers in North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia. Member-grower tobacco is processed and sold as raw materials to cigarette manufacturers worldwide.
