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| HOME > Stock Alerts > AMERICAN SAFETY RAZOR COMPANY LLC : THE MOST EXPENSIVE SHAVING IN THE WORLD, $500M SHAVING (ENR, rated SELL) |
AMERICAN SAFETY RAZOR COMPANY LLC : THE MOST EXPENSIVE SHAVING IN THE WORLD, $500M SHAVING (ENR, rated SELL)
ASRCO LLC is the grand grandfather of all shaving razors in U.S. it was founded in 1875 by Kampfe Brothers who introduced the STAR the first safety razor Made in USA. Today it's bust with $500,000,000 in debt.
The only good thing about this Chapter 11 is that American Safety Razor Co. LLC is private so there is no stock shareholders who would be wiped out otherwise.
The bad thing (and a good thing to me concerning my leveraged 1:4 short position in Dow Jones futures) is that it shows how American economy is being cannibalized by Piranha called Great Depression II.
Shaving razor is a necessity for men and women same as bread, milk, gas, eggs, toothbrush (even if one saves on toothpaste but brush they need) and if such business goes bust, then we know that reality is not so nice as "they" would want you to believe. This bankruptcy alone says more about U.S. economy than all the market news you have read and seen in the last 24 months.
Now ASRCO will have to cut, cut and cut on everything from workforce (440 employees and 1200 contractors, operations in Virginia, Tennessee and Nazareth Illit in Israel) to brands. Every men and women in U.S. know and use at least one of their brands, this is not a small company that went bust.
( WSJ )
<table> <tbody> <tr> <td> American Safety Razor Co. filed for bankruptcy protection Wednesday after striking a deal for its senior lenders to acquire the company, pending higher offers.
The Cedar Knolls, N.J., company, the fourth-largest manufacturer of wet shaving razors and blades, sought Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., to address its more than $500 million debt load.
</td> </tr> <tr> <td> American Safety Razor has a deal to sell itself to its first-lien lenders, owed $244 million, but the offer will be subject to challenge from rivals, possibly including a bid from second-lien lenders who sought to put together an deal for the company prior to the bankruptcy filing, the company said.
The junior lenders, owed $178 million, failed to raise the necessary funds to pay off the company's senior debt.
The proposed auction process "will give the second-lien lenders and others over seven weeks to make...a higher and better bid," Chief Executive J. Andrew Bolt said in court papers.
The company began to work to restructure its debt in February after its business plan showed that its capital structure no longer allowed it compete in a highly competitive market that includes household names such as Gillette and Schick.
American Safety Razor said the restructuring will allow it to cut its debt load while continuing to make investments in next-generation razor technology scheduled to launch next year.
The company has lined up $25 million in bankruptcy financing to fund its operations while it attempts to reorganize.
American Safety Razor took on much of its debt when London private-equity firm Lion Capital LLP acquired the razor maker from J.W. Childs Associates LP for $658 million in 2006. More than two-thirds of that purchase price came in the form of debt.
American Safety Razor produces value-priced products sold under brand names such Magnum, X5 and Matrix3, mainly at drug stores and mass retailers.
The company, which also does business as Personna American Safety Razor, traces its roots to 1875, when the Kampfe Brothers introduced the Star, the first safety razor made in the U.S. In 1906, the several companies launched by the Kampfes and their workers were consolidated as American Safety Razor.
About 440 employees and 1,200 contractors work for American Safety Razor. The company has manufacturing plants in Verona, Va., Knoxville, Tenn., and Nazareth Illit, Israel.
The company's largest unsecured debt is $94.9 million owed to its pension fund. American Safety Razor's first-lien lenders have agreed to assume that obligation if they succeed in acquiring the company.
The company also owes mezzanine lenders represented by UBS AG $60 million. </td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
Link: http://www.asrco.com/
Look at their (32) brands down left and products: http://www.personna.com/personna/blades/corporate/
Origins of the Safety Razor: http://RazorBrush.notlong.com
I shave: http://www.muehle-shaving.com/
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