Jore Corp. sold; buyer pledges to save jobs

MISSOULA (AP) — An eastern Washington potato farmer on Monday bought Jore Corp. for nearly $33 million and pledged to try
and save about 280 jobs in the Mission Valley.

Associated Press- Helena IR

The Pasco, Wash., company was able to put together a last-minute deal in U.S. Bankruptcy Court with two major creditors and
involving at least $12.6 million in long-term financing as repayment for collateral pledged before Jore’s bankruptcy filing last May
22.
The new company will be called New Jore Corp., at least for now.

An attorney for the new owner, Frank Tiegs of Pasco, said Tiegs has every intention of keeping Jore in the business of producing
tool accessories and drill bits.
“It is absolutely essential that the company be maintained as a going concern” until the sale is closed by next Monday, said James
Waggoner, a Portland attorney representing Tiegs’ Western Mortgage and Realty, the official buyer. “We want the company to
survive and thrive and we want it in good condition when we acquire it.”

Gerald McConnell, Jore’s president and chief executive officer, said Jore workers will be called back to work Tuesday for their
regular shifts.
Operating capital will come from cash collateral until closing of the sale, which will involve wire transfers of millions of dollars from
Western Mortgage to a variety of creditors.

Had no sale occurred, the plant likely would have been permanently closed, although there was at least one potential buyer
waiting to pick up the pieces if the case was dismissed or converted to a conventional Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Many Jore employees, given the day off with pay, took a charter bus to the federal building in Missoula, 55 miles south of Ronan,
to attend Monday’s hearing.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Ralph Kirscher of Butte opened a second courtroom and made other arrangements for the overflow crowd.
The hearing began shortly after 1:30 p.m., and soon was recessed to allow negotiations to proceed between the 17 creditors and
their attorneys, and the two bona fide bidders, Tiegs’ Western Mortgage, and a team from tool-manufacturing powerhouse Pentair
Corp., which opened bidding at $26.2 million.

The surprise agreement was announced about 8 p.m.
By that time, negotiators for GE Capital Corp., had managed somehow to corral unanimous creditor support for the ultimately
successful Western Mortgage bid by agreeing to take back $6.5 million in debt, instead of the $2 million cash release price GE
would get from the Pentair offer. Two other creditors agreed to take back long-term debt, including Mountain West Bank’s $4.5
million for real estate and Key Corp.’s $1.6 million for equipment.

Some other lenders offered short-term financing, but not Wells Fargo, which has been supplying debtor in possession financing to
keep Jore operating the last 11 months. Wells Fargo will cash out for about $12 million, according to an oral description of the
agreement in court. These figures are subject to a final court order to be prepared and signed by Kirscher before the closing.
Tiegs testified that there was no collusion with creditors or debtors in arranging the sale, and no agreement with debtors that had
not been disclosed.

“We have no interest in making (immediate) changes, and we don’t have another place to move” the plant, Tiegs told the judge.
He told the media he would reserve comment on the sale and his plans for Jore for a later date and returned to Pasco.

The total purchase price, including cash and loan backs, is $32.9 million, far above the Pentair offer but involving considerably less
cash than Pentair was offering.

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