AppHarvest's three Kentucky farms will soon have new owners.
Netherlands-based Bosch Growers was the successful bidder on the bankrupt agtech company's berry farm in Somerset, Kentucky, according to documents pertaining to AppHarvest's Chapter 11 bankruptcy. There were no qualified bids on AppHarvest's tomato farms in Morehead and Richmond, Kentucky, so stalking horse bidder Equilibrium Capital will take ownership.
As I reported last month, Equilibrium, one of AppHarvest's creditors, has agreed to buy the Morehead and Richmond properties and their related assets for more than $113 million, which would be satisfied in the form of a credit bid with respect to Equilibrium’s portion of the AppHarvest's secured indebtedness, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.
The asset purchase agreement for the Somerset farm did not disclose how much Bosch Growers, a sixth-generation, family-run business, is paying for the farm, only that it is taking over AppHarvest's $20 million loan from Greater Nevada Credit Union. Bosch, led by Jaco, Tijmen and Wouter van den Bosch, grows green bell peppers and blackberries, according to the company's website.
Several of AppHarvest's suppliers are objecting to the sales, as reported by FreshPlaza, a fresh produce industry publication, citing concerns about payments for completed and uncompleted work on the facilities. Any objections that can't be resolved by the parties will be heard by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, on Thursday, Sept. 14.
AppHarvest sold its Berea, Kentucky, farm to Mastronardi Produce for $127 million in December 2022, later transitioning the farm's operations to Mastronardi as a part of the bankruptcy.
Following the sale of each farm, there will be a transition of assets, Travis Parman, chief communications officer of AppHarvest, told me last month.
"An AppHarvest entity is expected to remain for some time to handle residual legal and transition issues but is not expected to have operational responsibility," he said then.
AppHarvest reported net sales of $13 million and a net loss of $33.6 million during the first quarter of 2023. It has been delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange, and hasn't filed any new financial documents with the SEC since early August.
