The descendant of a once-leading tire and rubber company, Uniroyal Holding Inc., is winding up its operations, and its iconic brand name will soon disappear as a functioning entity.
Uniroyal Holding Inc., which was a subsidiary of the former Uniroyal tire company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to satisfy all personal injury and wrongful death claims related to asbestos in products, settle remaining retirement benefits of former employees, and provide a distribution of assets to creditors.
The Naugatuck, Conn., debtor listed $10 million to $50 million in assets and $50 million to $100 million in liabilities in its petition filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey on July 31.
Uniroyal faces 1000s of asbestos claims
Uniroyal Holdings listed 30 law firms in the petition that had filed the most asbestos litigation cases against the debtor, though all amounts on the unsecured asbestos claims were categorized as undetermined.
Asbestos claims ranged from a high of 22,754 cases from Weitz & Luxenberg to a low of 32 cases from Wallace & Graham P.A.
Since Uniroyal Holdings’ formation over 41 years ago, 516,656 personal injury and wrongful death claims were filed against the company with the defendant resolving 216,994 cases and making just under $500 million in payments, according to court documents.
Another 264,232 claims were dismissed, leaving over 35,000 pending cases.
Claims becoming unmanageable
“For the last 40 years, Uniroyal has successfully settled or defended claims against it and managed its liabilities, but the sheer number of asserted litigation claims is massive and will quickly become unmanageable upon retirement of the current Uniroyal employee team that has actively directed and coordinated this effort,” Uniroyal Holding President and General Counsel Robert V. D’Angelo said in a court declaration.
Uniroyal Holdings filed the bankruptcy case with a proposed consensual joint Chapter 11 plan, along with subsidiary Great Hill Corporation, to satisfy all non-personal injury and wrongful death claims against the debtors, establish a settlement trust to assume, administer, and resolve all present and future personal injury and wrongful death claims against the debtors, and dissolve the debtors.
Great Hill Corporation is the beneficiary of a $2.48 million intercompany note with a maturity date of July 20, 2028.
Company has 140 retirees in plan
The number of participants in the retiree benefit plan has declined from about 10,000 beneficiaries when the debtor was established in 1985 to 140 retirees currently with an average age of 92.
