Vinfolio (the “Company” or “Vinfolio”) entered into an Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors (“Assignment”) on Friday evening, January 15, 2010 to Vinfolio (assignment for the benefit of creditors), LLC (“Assignee”), an affiliated entity to Sherwood Partners, LLC (Sherwood”). We wanted to provide some background on Sherwood and allow them to provide this communication to the Vinfolio customers and creditors. Sherwood is an experienced and reputable firm that is capable of moving the Assignment process forward with great rapidity and for maximizing potential outcomes. They’ve completed approximately 350 Assignments and are considered the premier Assignment company in the United States.
The following is information from the Assignee:
There has been some confusion on the Assignment process and there are many positive reasons why this process was chosen by the Company. Firstly, it allows the Company to select an Assignee who understands the business, industry and issues critical to the situation versus a court-appointed trustee who often does not. The Assignee also has the ability to move with speed and flexibility to permit smart business choices. An Assignment provides the capacity for controlled operations to be continued to maximize the value and allow for contractual obligations to be negotiated and resolved efficiently, and as important, the Assignment is cost effective. Other forms of restructuring often involve significant professional fees that can cripple a business from moving forward and reduce recoveries for creditors.
We are currently operating the business and have retained more than 35 key Vinfolio employees to assist the Assignee, and the Assignee has received the approval of Vinfolio’s secured creditor to optimize potential outcomes. These actions allow the business to continue to operate, for customer wines to be received into or shipped from the warehouse, and for customer’s wines to remain protected as they were prior to the Assignment. The Assignee also expects to be able to ship and deliver wines sold.
We realize the situation has its challenges, but we are focused on minimizing disruptions to day-to-day operations, while the Assignee identifies a buyer and a transaction completed. We are working diligently to address issues that this situation has created and we ask for your patience as we work through the process.
