News

Establish New Company, American Plastics, to Market Existing Brands and Products of Leading Commercial Cleaning and Storage Products Provider

LOS ANGELES, CA, ST. LOUIS, MO and CHICAGO, IL – July 24, 2017 – Highview Capital, LLC (“Highview”) and Victory Park Capital Advisors, LLC (“VPC”) announced today the completion of the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Katy Industries, Inc. (OTC:KATY) (“Katy” or the “Company”), a leading manufacturer, importer and distributor of commercial cleaning and consumer storage products. The assets will be consolidated under a newly formed holding company owned by Highview and VPC, named American Plastics, LLC. This new platform will be led by Robert Guerra, recent President and Chief Executive Officer of Katy, and will continue to operate under the Company’s brands, including Continental Commercial Products, Contico, Wilen, Fundamentals and Fort Wayne Plastics.

Ryan McCarthy, Co-Founder and Senior Portfolio Manager of Highview, said, “We are thrilled to partner with Robert and VPC to provide American Plastics with long-term stability and accelerate its growth through both organic initiatives and strategic acquisitions. For 50 years, Katy has established a strong reputation and popular brands by reliably providing quality products and services to its customers. Now, with a well-capitalized balance sheet and new funding, American Plastics is in a strong position to continue that legacy, execute on its strategic plan and enter a new era of growth.”

Charles Asfour, Partner at VPC, said, “We are very pleased with the outcome of this transaction. Our partnership with Highview enabled Katy to complete a quick and efficient sale process within just three months while also preserving the Company’s value and establishing a new platform for future success. We are confident that the Company is on the right path for a bright future and look forward to continuing to work closely with Highview and American Plastics’ management team as we collectively execute upon our growth and strategic plans going forward.”

Robert Guerra, American Plastics President and CEO, added, “Today’s news is an exciting milestone for our company, marking the beginning of our next chapter as American Plastics. With the support and expertise of our new partners, we are now better equipped than ever to achieve sustainable growth and continue to meet the needs of our customers, employees and other stakeholders. We appreciate our customers’ loyalty throughout our restructuring process and are committed to continuing to provide essential products through the same brands they have come to rely on. Delivering top-quality products and services to our customers will always be our top priority, and we look forward to serving all our customers for many more years to come.”

On May 14, 2017, a newly created entity owned by Highview and VPC was named as the stalking horse bidder in Katy’s court-supervised auction process to purchase the assets sold under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code. Katy completed a sale process to seek the highest and best offer to purchase the business as a whole or any of its component parts, in accordance with the court-approved bid procedures. The acquisition by Highview and VPC was approved by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on July 17, 2017.

The Katy Industries, Inc. Chapter 11 case has been filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington under the Case number 17-11101. Additional information can be found at www.jndla.com/cases/Katy.

Robert Guerra Biography

Mr. Guerra is a veteran of the industrial manufacturing sector with more than 30 years of leadership and operational expertise. Most recently, Mr. Guerra served as president of IMI Precision Engineering, where he oversaw financial performance and implemented numerous strategies to drive sales and profit growth within key market segments for all business units in the Americas. Before that, Mr. Guerra served as a president at 3Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, where he led the company to record sales and profits by introducing and sustaining innovative business strategies to excel in customer service and product delivery.