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Postville, IA - Montreal Businessman Makes Only Bid for Agriprocessors |
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Photo Credit: www.mishpacha.com
The troubled plant was the subject of an auction in bankruptcy court this afternoon.
No one made a higher offer than the bid announced last month by Hershey Friedman and his partners.
Friedman, who lives in Montreal, leads a group known as SHF Industries LLC. He has agreed to pay about $8.5 million to major creditors of Agriprocessors, mainly First Bank. Smaller creditors, including numerous Postville-area businesses, would get nothing from the deal.
Agriprocessors used to be the nation’s largest supplier of kosher meat, and it was the Postville area’s dominant employer. But it tumbled into bankruptcy after a May 2008 raid by federal immigration authorities.
Several of its former leaders face federal and state criminal charges, including that they defrauded the bank and used illegal immigrants and minors as workers. Several mid-level managers have pleaded guilty.
Trials for the top managers are scheduled to begin in the fall.
The plant has maintained limited chicken production while bankruptcy proceedings continued, but it has not resumed more complicated beef processing. Many Postville residents worried that the plant would close, which would devastate the area’s economy. But state economic development officials have said Friedman intends to revive the business.
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Read Comments (28) — Post Yours »
1
Jul 06, 2009 at 03:02 PM yo yo Says:
Good luck Mr. Freidman
2
Jul 06, 2009 at 02:58 PM Anonymous Says:
It would be proper and fitting for such a benevolent philanthropist to remunerate the very person who brought this particular deal to him.I wish him much hatzlacha once he concludes this business in a way that is both honorable to him and to Hashem.
3
Jul 06, 2009 at 04:08 PM Yitzchok Says:
To # 2. I hope said broker made prior arrangments with the buyer and then followed up by getting said deal in writing.
4
Jul 06, 2009 at 03:51 PM Anonymous Says:
“ It would be proper and fitting for such a benevolent philanthropist to remunerate the very person who brought this particular deal to him.I wish him much hatzlacha once he concludes this business in a way that is both honorable to him and to Hashem. ”
I'm not sure what you are saying or whom you think he needs to reimburse but I hope he has much hatzlacha and we never again have to hear the name "rubahskin'.
5
Jul 06, 2009 at 05:11 PM na nach Says:
“ I'm not sure what you are saying or whom you think he needs to reimburse but I hope he has much hatzlacha and we never again have to hear the name "rubahskin'. ”
u have something personal?
6
Jul 06, 2009 at 05:24 PM Anonymous Says:
To # 4 waht a shame to say u hope naver to hear the name rubashkin again
7
Jul 06, 2009 at 06:04 PM Anonymous Says:
“ I'm not sure what you are saying or whom you think he needs to reimburse but I hope he has much hatzlacha and we never again have to hear the name "rubahskin'. ”
actualy rubashkin is a great name to hear, they are great balei tzdakah, and have a geshmak in helping people. i doubt you know them but i do! i can only wish the family that soon their name be cleared, and that the great family that has been broken by our own kehilos, become a shining light once again for all of us.
8
Jul 06, 2009 at 07:06 PM Anonymous Says:
“ It would be proper and fitting for such a benevolent philanthropist to remunerate the very person who brought this particular deal to him.I wish him much hatzlacha once he concludes this business in a way that is both honorable to him and to Hashem. ”
Are you insinuating that there was a behind the scene deal with the previous owner; you are not suggesting that both parties committed fraud on the Court, which is a Federal crime and a possibility for a long jail sentence, with friends like you, who need enemies?
9
Jul 06, 2009 at 07:31 PM sam Says:
“ actualy rubashkin is a great name to hear, they are great balei tzdakah, and have a geshmak in helping people. i doubt you know them but i do! i can only wish the family that soon their name be cleared, and that the great family that has been broken by our own kehilos, become a shining light once again for all of us. ”
U r 100% right the rubashkin family is a great one
10
Jul 06, 2009 at 08:03 PM michale Says:
“ I'm not sure what you are saying or whom you think he needs to reimburse but I hope he has much hatzlacha and we never again have to hear the name "rubahskin'. ”
You are a sonei yisroel
11
Jul 06, 2009 at 09:11 PM Anonymous Says:
How much did Mishpacha Magazine get for that cover page?
12
Jul 06, 2009 at 08:48 PM Anonymous Says:
Please, someone correct me if I am wrong. Is Friedman getting the Rubashkin plant for 8.5 million? If he is, boy is this ever a give away....Seems that the government wants to stick it to Rubashkin even if it means leaving debtors high and dry. If this is true, this is the witchhunt Rubashkin claimed it was. I cannot help but feel terribly sorry for those people...
13
Jul 06, 2009 at 08:18 PM Anonymous Says:
Mr Friedman means well and wants to help yidden by HOPEFULLY getting the prices of meat to go down by having more competition. (probably will never happen)
Why would Mr Friedman go back to a city which is totally anti semitic and tuened on Rubashkin? Rubashkin was no Mr Tzadik if what he is accused of is indeed true but the bottom line is his workers turned on him when he was in crisis mode and now Mr. Friedman will hire the same bumbs?
OPen up a factory in NJ where people are desperate for jobs.
Good luck.
14
Jul 06, 2009 at 08:11 PM joe Says:
we should not forget that Rubashkins brought kosher meat to places that did not have it available before.
15
Jul 06, 2009 at 09:55 PM Anonymous Says:
Given the current economic climate one must wonder why Mr Friedman had to pick the Rubashkins' tzoros as his latest investment? Certainly there are other oppurtunities of equal value available, that are untainted by Jewish tragedy.
16
Jul 06, 2009 at 10:24 PM whoa boy Says:
Did you read that great piece i Mishpacha? Loved it.
17
Jul 06, 2009 at 10:19 PM Advice Says:
He should have bit 5 Million and saved 3 million if no one was bidding. (my fee for the advice 1%) Is it too late to withdraw the bid?
18
Jul 06, 2009 at 10:36 PM The Governor Says:
“ I'm not sure what you are saying or whom you think he needs to reimburse but I hope he has much hatzlacha and we never again have to hear the name "rubahskin'. ”
One day you may need their chesed and you'll be singing a different tune. Besides, how could you say that about someone even if you feel they did something wrong?
19
Jul 06, 2009 at 10:39 PM montrealer Says:
“ Given the current economic climate one must wonder why Mr Friedman had to pick the Rubashkins' tzoros as his latest investment? Certainly there are other oppurtunities of equal value available, that are untainted by Jewish tragedy. ”
hersy is a nice guy good busness man bal-tzedoke well thought out man what ever he touched turn into gold hersy go for it make us proud
20
Jul 07, 2009 at 06:45 AM Wiseman Says:
“ I'm not sure what you are saying or whom you think he needs to reimburse but I hope he has much hatzlacha and we never again have to hear the name "rubahskin'. ”
What is wrong with the Rubashkin name? They simply are victims of the times. If you never owned a business who are you to be a judge over them. Do you know what pressures are prevelant in running such a business? Do you know all the facts here or you just mimicking the "shtus" you hear on the radio and othe media outlets. Does this erase the good they apparently have done over the years? I suggest you look into your heart (if you have any) and ask for forgiveness and pray you never find yourself in a simialr situation.
21
Jul 07, 2009 at 10:41 AM Hate em Tatem Says:
“ Please, someone correct me if I am wrong. Is Friedman getting the Rubashkin plant for 8.5 million? If he is, boy is this ever a give away....Seems that the government wants to stick it to Rubashkin even if it means leaving debtors high and dry. If this is true, this is the witchhunt Rubashkin claimed it was. I cannot help but feel terribly sorry for those people... ”
"Seems that the government wants to stick it to Rubashkin even if it means leaving debtors high and dry."
I assume you meant creditors high and dry. This is a BANKRUPTCY sale. More precise, a chapter 11 disguised as a chapter 7. I fully agree with you that there was a witchhunt against Rubashkin. However, what does that have to do with the bankruptcy sale?
In any bankruptcy plan there are a number of creditors that get vey little or nothing. Especially if the sale was a 363(b) sale.
22
Jul 07, 2009 at 02:19 PM Rubashkin Fan Says:
My heart goes out to the Rubashkin family. It seems so unfair to me that people who devoted their entire lives to chessed, without any limitations, are having their entire life's work pulled away from them. I am sure Mr. Friedman is a wonderful person, but it seems unfair that he is benefiting from another's misfortune. Call me naive.
23
Jul 07, 2009 at 02:39 PM Anonymous Says:
Well, you know if they didn' hire illegals exploiting them for poverty wages, aiding and abetting "illegals" to stay here illegaly.........and then there is that horrible video tape made by an informant of torturing animals as opposed to humanely killing them, the FBI wouldn't have come down on them like a ton of bricks. Obviously none of you know the real story of why that place was raided. I cringe when I read of Jews committing such disgusting crimes. Oh, but, hell with that, we just go to how our kosher meat right?
24
Jul 07, 2009 at 03:16 PM Rubashkin Fan Says:
“ Well, you know if they didn' hire illegals exploiting them for poverty wages, aiding and abetting "illegals" to stay here illegaly.........and then there is that horrible video tape made by an informant of torturing animals as opposed to humanely killing them, the FBI wouldn't have come down on them like a ton of bricks. Obviously none of you know the real story of why that place was raided. I cringe when I read of Jews committing such disgusting crimes. Oh, but, hell with that, we just go to how our kosher meat right? ”
That's a load of exaggerated garbage, and you know it.
Furthermore, the hiring of illegal aliens is part and parcel of the American economy. Witness American Apparel - amongst hundred of companies who's illegals form the majority of their workers. Sorry, but whether you are ready to admit it or not, Rubashkin's so called 'crimes' are the modus operandi for the majority of the agriculture industry in the US.
They were singled out. ,.
25
Jul 07, 2009 at 03:59 PM Anonymous Says:
“ Well, you know if they didn' hire illegals exploiting them for poverty wages, aiding and abetting "illegals" to stay here illegaly.........and then there is that horrible video tape made by an informant of torturing animals as opposed to humanely killing them, the FBI wouldn't have come down on them like a ton of bricks. Obviously none of you know the real story of why that place was raided. I cringe when I read of Jews committing such disgusting crimes. Oh, but, hell with that, we just go to how our kosher meat right? ”
Myself as a liberal who usually supports the left, I see certain actions that the government took against Rubashkin as way excessive, I could understand to fine or do some time about the illegal’s working in his facility, but to indict and charge them with hundred of crimes, is way too excessive and I strongly disagree with the action of the government. Even Madeoff was only charged with a handful of crimes, yes he did get 150 years that is understood because of the magnitude, but they could have charged Madeoff with stealing from each and every separate account and that was in tens of thousands.
26
Jul 07, 2009 at 06:33 PM ytk Says:
the advisors to this fantastic deal were not Goldman Sachs nor Lazard Freres. But rather the great gaon and mekubol in Nahariya.
27
Jul 07, 2009 at 06:59 PM Anonymous Says:
“ the advisors to this fantastic deal were not Goldman Sachs nor Lazard Freres. But rather the great gaon and mekubol in Nahariya. ”
fantastic? for who?
28
Jul 07, 2009 at 08:20 PM PMO Says:
“ That's a load of exaggerated garbage, and you know it.
Furthermore, the hiring of illegal aliens is part and parcel of the American economy. Witness American Apparel - amongst hundred of companies who's illegals form the majority of their workers. Sorry, but whether you are ready to admit it or not, Rubashkin's so called 'crimes' are the modus operandi for the majority of the agriculture industry in the US.
They were singled out. ,. ”
Here is a good comparison: 1 in 40 Americans uses Marijuana at least occasionally (once in 60 days). Since it is pretty common, I should be allowed to bring back 100 pounds of it from Mexico with no penalty. After all... EVERYBODY does it.
That argument does not hold water. Rubashkin gambled with the law and lost. It is sadly unfortunate as they are really good people otherwise.
Now, a well respected member of the Jewish business community will step in and get this back up and running. We should be cheering for him. We should also be putting pressure on him to produce as much as possible to help bring wholesale prices down. I wish Hershey Friedman all the success in the world and I hope he is as generous as the Rubashkins were.