Hilco Trading, LLC has announced that two of its business units, Hilco Industrial (www.hilcoindustrial.com) and, Hilco Asset Protection, have been retained by Highway Technologies, Inc. Hilco Industrial has been engaged to manage the disposition of machinery, equipment and various other assets and Hilco Asset Protection has been engaged to provide security services following the company’s May 22, 2013 voluntary chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and decision to wind down the business.
Houston-based Highway Technologies was one of the largest traffic safety companies in the United States and a national leader that provided temporary and permanent roadway traffic management and safety services, including pavement marking installations, permanent installations of highway guardrails, barrier walls and signage, and traffic control services for special events. The company also rented a wide range of traffic management equipment.
As preparations for an asset sale are being made by a team from Hilco Industrial, security services are being provided by Hilco Asset Protection at Highway Technologies facilities in Houston, Fort Worth and Austin, Texas, as well as 29 other locations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon and Texas.
According to Michael Gilligan, Vice President of Hilco Asset Protection, “The relatively abrupt nature of the bankruptcy filing and shuttering of operations left millions of dollars of assets domiciled across the U.S. vulnerable. Excellent cooperation between the company and its advisors made it possible for Hilco, the only asset disposition company with a proprietary, internal asset protection group, to quickly formulate a comprehensive, nationwide security plan and position specially-trained security personnel where needed within hours.”
According to Robert Levy, a Partner with Hilco Industrial, the asset disposition process is in full swing. Hilco, along with Imperial Capital, has already begun the process of marketing and contacting and negotiating with buyers who are interested in (i) taking over branch (s) as a full turnkey operation and (ii) taking all of the assets at a particular branch or various branches. Levy added, “The nature of the assets to be sold should evoke a great deal of interest from industry competitors as well as governmental agencies seeking to augment or update their existing inventories of traffic management and systems and equipment.”
Each branch houses a variety of traffic safety products, including solar arrows and message boards, barrier walls and guard rails, light towers, speed awareness signs, portable traffic signals, generators, trailers and more. A large fleet of vehicles including striping and pickup trucks is also divided among the locations.
Organizations interested in purchasing a branch or a group of assets (assets are currently offered in bulk quantities) can find more information and request to be contacted by visiting http://www.hilcoind.com/HighwayTechnologies.
