UPDATED: Business as usual at Poplar Bluff facility as Briggs & Stratton files for Chapter 11 reorganization

It will be business as usual at the local Briggs & Stratton plant as the manufacturer announced early Monday it’s selling assets and filing a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization petition.

“Briggs & Stratton today announced it has filed voluntary petitions for a court-supervised reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code to address its debt obligations and facilitate the potential sale of the company,” Rick Carpenter, vice president of corporate marketing and communications, said in an email.

This step, Carpenter said, was identified as the “appropriate and necessary one to take to secure our business and financial success moving forward.

“We have reached an agreement with KPS Capital Partners to acquire essentially all of the company’s assets and assume certain customer, employee and vendor liabilities through a court-supervised sale process (known as a Section 363 process).”

Among other things, Carpenter said, the sale agreement is subject to higher or better bids from other potential purchasers.

Carpenter said liabilities to be assumed include rebates and allowances, warranties, employee accrued vacation and post petition vendor accounts payable.

“This process means we should be able to move quickly into and out of Chapter 11, and Briggs & Stratton will continue normal business operations throughout the process, and our products will continue to be produced, distributed, sold, serviced and fully backed,” Carpenter said.

Regarding Poplar Bluff’s operations, “I think the key thing to note is that the plan is to operate ‘business as usual’ through the reorganization process as we have DIP (debtor in possession) financing that allows us to fund the business to manufacture, including Poplar Bluff, and supply products to our customers. After the reorganization process we will be acquired by another company,” Carpenter explained.

Briggs & Stratton opened in 1989 in the Poplar Bluff Industrial Park and at one point employed up to 1,500 workers.

In February 2019, corporate officials met with local leaders to discuss whether the Poplar Bluff or Murray, Kentucky, factories would be closed.

In August, the company announced the closure of its Kentucky facility after more than three decades as Briggs consolidated operations. It employed 630 people at the time.

The Poplar Bluff City Council members reportedly approved a $42.9 million tax abatement for the corporation, which helped secure an existing 519 full-time jobs here, as well as the addition of 245 new full-time, permanent jobs in the next two years, according to a contract between the company and city.

Briggs also was to receive a 90% discount on certain real and personal property taxes associated with improvements and new equipment related to the expansion.

In March, Briggs temporarily closed due to what was described as a general business slowdown and an inability to acquire component parts needed to produce small engines as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Over the past several months, we have explored multiple options with our advisors to strengthen our financial position and flexibility. The challenges we have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic have made reorganization the difficult, but necessary and appropriate path forward to secure our business,” Todd Teske, Briggs & Stratton’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in a news release.

This, Teske said, also gives the company “support to execute on our strategic plans to bring greater value to our customers and channel partners.”

Briggs & Stratton has a storied past and a bright future, built on our foundational expertise in applying power,” Teske said. “Our portfolio of innovative engines, robust lines of products and high-performance commercial batteries positions Briggs & Stratton to meet our global customers’ needs for power to get work done, now and in the future.”