The tracks for emergence from Chapter 11 already had been laid – for most recent coverage, see Plasteurope.com of 23.11.2010 – but now it is official. In late December 2010, the Massachusetts district bankruptcy court confirmed the reorganisation plan submitted by Gloucester Engineering (GEC, Gloucester, Massachusetts / USA; www.gloucesterengineering.com), paving the way for the plastic extrusion equipment provider’s emergence from creditor protection on 31 December. The company’s European subsidiary, Gloucester Engineering Europe (Vienna / Austria), already had exited brankruptcy protection in November last year – see Plasteurope.com of 18.11.2010.

During a confirmation hearing held on 20 December, the majority of GEC’s creditors had voted to approve the reorganisation plan, as part of which private equity firm Blue Wolf Capital Fund II (New York, New York / USA; www.blue-wolf.com) will now become GEC’s main shareholder. GEC president Carl Johnson welcomed the move, saying that “the company has taken significant new orders for our market leading plastics extrusion equipment, and we have aggressively rationalised our cost structure.”