Compania de Alimentos Fargo asks court to dismiss involuntary Chapter 11 case

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, Nov. 30 - Compania de Alimentos Fargo asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to dismiss its involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in light of its lack of contact with the United States, according to a Wednesday court filing.

According to the motion, there is no real possibility that Fargo can be reorganized under Chapter 11, and Fargo has no meaningful contact to the United States.

The company said the petitioners, which are four non-U.S. investment funds, "do little to disguise the fact that their sole intent in filing the involuntary petition is not to reorganize Fargo under the auspices of the court, but rather to create a forum in which they can collaterally attack and frustrate the efforts of the courts in Argentina that are overseeing the company's reorganization in that country."

In a motion for an examination that was filed on the involuntary petition date, Fargo said the petitioners made clear that their true intention "is to bootstrap into a Chapter 11 of Fargo actions against Fargo's current indirect owners, Grupo Bimbo Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable SA and Fernando Chico Pardo."

Fargo said in the motion that the petitioners concede that it is an Argentine corporation, both Grupo Bimbo and Chico Pardo are Mexican nationals and the petitioners themselves are not U.S. entities.

In addition, Fargo said the alleged wrongs for which petitioners seek redress is a wrong that occurred, if at all, in an Argentine court.

Fargo said it has no U.S. office, bank account, equipment, operations, employees or sales representatives, and most of its creditors are located outside the United States.

The company said its sole U.S. assets are one registered U.S. trademark and three pending trademark applications.

A status conference is scheduled for Dec. 5, and a hearing on case dismissal will be set then.

Compania de Alimentos Fargo is a Buenos Aires, Argentina-based producer and distributor of packaged bread and bakery products in Argentina. Its Chapter 11 case number is 06-12128.

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