(UPDATED COVERAGE, 1:28 p.m.) In the week it emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy Eurofresh Inc. reorganized its executive team.
President and chief executive officer Dwight Ferguson; Brian McLaughlin, chief financial officer; and David Godfrey, vice president of human resources, are no longer with the company.
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Founder and board chairman Johan van den Berg has taken over as chief executive officer.
“They definitely contributed quite a bit the last few years,” said Mark Cassius, vice president of sales. “I’m not sure what they’re going to do in the future, but we wish them the best in their future endeavors.”
As of Nov. 24, the new executive staff consisted of van den Berg, Cassius and Frank van Straalen, executive vice president of operations. Van Straalen is the former chief financial officer, so he’s serving as interim CFO, Cassius said.
The company also brought in a new board of directors Nov. 18 that includes members with experience in consumer packaged goods, Cassius said.
Van den Berg was also part of an investor group that put $35 million into the Willcox, Ariz.-based company as part of its reorganization plan, which was approved by a bankruptcy court judge in October and allowed the company to emerge from bankruptcy Nov. 18.
When Eurofresh announced its emergence from bankruptcy, layoffs were not included in the plan. In fact, Ferguson was quoted in a Nov. 18 news release as saying, “The future for Eurofresh has never been brighter. We look forward to providing the highest quality produce and services available to our customers for many years to come.”
The company, which owns Eurofresh Produce Ltd. and does business as Eurofresh Farms, filed for bankruptcy April 21. At that time, its liabilities were between $100 million and $500 million, according to court documents.
The reorganization plan submitted in court included a settlement with the majority of existing debt holders and allowed the company to convert more than $200 million of debt into equity, Ferguson said late October.
It also included the $35 million capital investment in the company, provided by the investor group that includes van den Berg.
Produce companies were not among the creditors that had voting rights to approve the plan.
Eurofresh’s primary lender, Phoenix-based Silver Point Finance LLC, as well as suppliers of natural gas and other inputs, the Department of Labor and the Arizona Department of Revenue were on the list, among other banks and state departments of revenue.
Ferguson said at that time that the company had settled all claims from produce companies, adding that Eurofresh also had retained the vast majority of its employees and key vendor contracts.
Cassius said the company’s managers have been in a lot of meetings and have many more scheduled to figure out its next strategic steps.
“We’re actually pretty excited about Johan coming back into this business,” Cassius said. “He’s got a lot coming up with some new products and innovations."