Collins & Aikman Corp (fka CKCR)

[calcul8r]

intraday high of .054 yesterday, closed at .045. maybe next time someone else posts on this board it will be 2009 lol....

[calcul8r]

to the moon, u bk pos .031 today.

[jsandcm8]

well,they are just below 7 again.with all the events coming up here first qtr.it should be a fine qtr.with the highlight being the buisness plan.
then plant closures will be a temporary welcome.

[Chinga]

.087

[Chinga]

Lear letter filed with SEC HERE:


http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/842162/000095012405005022/k97838exv99w1.htm
[Lear Corporation Letterhead]
August 16, 2005
Mr. Frank Macher
President & Chief Executive Officer
Collins & Aikman Corporation
250 Stephenson Highway
Troy, MI 48083
Dear Mr. Macher:
We have indicated to your financial advisors our interest in pursuing discussions regarding a possible transaction with Collins & Aikman Corporation and its affiliates (collectively, “Collins & Aikman”) that would serve the best interests of our respective stakeholders, as well as other constituencies, including our mutual customers.
Based on recent press reports, we understand that Plastech Engineered Products, Inc. (“Plastech”) has recently submitted an acquisition proposal to Collins & Aikman. If Collins & Aikman intends to consider Plastech’s offer or any other transaction proposal, we would welcome the opportunity to participate in that process. As you know, we have recently announced plans to explore strategic alternatives with respect to our interior components/systems business. One potentially attractive alternative, among others, would be for each company to contribute some or all of their respective interiors businesses to a newly-formed joint venture. In this regard, Lear is as well positioned as any other potential bidder to raise third-party equity financing if necessary to complete a transaction. We request that Lear be given access to the information reasonably necessary to develop a specific transaction structure and proposal and, in any event, no less and no later access than has been or will be provided to Plastech or any other prospective bidder.
Lear Corporation is a leading global supplier of automotive interior systems, with net sales of approximately $17 billion in 2004. Under the right conditions, we believe that Lear would be able to complete a mutually beneficial transaction within an acceptable timeframe. Moreover, we have the industry knowledge, management infrastructure and experience to effect a smooth transition for the benefit of Collins & Aikman’s customers and employees.
We understand the constraints under which Collins & Aikman is operating and the interests of Collins & Aikman’s stakeholders in consummating a transaction that maximizes value with minimal execution risk. We are prepared to dedicate the internal and external resources necessary to evaluate a possible transaction, and we have already engaged financial, legal and other advisors.
We look forward to hearing from you regarding Collins & Aikman’s intended process for providing information to, and evaluating transaction proposals from, interested parties. In the meantime, we would be pleased to answer any questions you may have regarding this expression of interest.

Very truly yours,

/s/ David C. Wajsgras

David C. Wajsgras
Executive Vice President &
Chief Financial Officer



cc: Robert E. Rossiter
Stephen F. Cooper

[Chinga]

Lear could raise as much as $2.5 billion to buy its rival



DETROIT — In a move that could create a powerhouse in the cutthroat automotive interiors business, Lear Corp. is considering a bid for bankrupt Collins & Aikman Corp.

Last week, sources close to Lear confirmed that the supplier is studying a possible bid for Collins & Aikman. The sources said Lear might buy part or all of Collins & Aikman.
Analysts say the acquisition of Collins & Aikman could give Lear economies of scale. Troy-based Collins & Aikman makes cockpit modules, instrument panels, flooring, and acoustic systems and trim. Lear makes many of the same products.


Weighed down by a tangle of unprofitable contracts, Collins & Aikman filed for bankruptcy protection on May 17.


But its status as one of North America’s largest interiors suppliers makes it too important to fail. Last week, automakers earmarked $200 million to keep Collins & Aikman in business through September.


Lear is not the only company eyeing Collins & Aikman. On Aug. 8, Plastech Engineered Products Inc. of Dearborn announced its intention to buy Collins & Aikman for up to $1 billion.

Plastech continues to pursue Collins & Aikman. “They’re strategic” to Plastech, said a source familiar with Plastech’s strategy. Plastech has “been trying to get into instrument panels and doors for a while. Collins & Aikman does instrument panels and doors, so that would be core” to Plastech.


The source said Plastech was approached by an automaker he declined to identify and encouraged to make a bid for Collins & Aikman, a move seen as evidence of just how important Collins & Aikman is to the automotive industry.


“Some interested people in this process approached Plastech because they don’t see Collins as a longtime viable entity,” the source said. “That’s why they are doing it. Not just for the fun of it. They think having Collins & Aikman is good for them in the long term."

Lear can afford to buy Collins & Aikman. With North American original-equipment parts sales of $9.28 billion in 2004, Lear ranks No. 5 on the Automotive News list of the top 150 suppliers. With sales of $3.90 billion, Collins & Aikman ranks No. 11.


Together, the two companies would become North America’s largest interiors supplier, with combined sales that could total $13.19 billion.


Under certain circumstances, Lear could raise as much as $2.5 billion to buy its rival, according to company documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.


Moreover, much of Lear’s interiors business overlaps that of Collins & Aikman.


In theory, a larger interior trim division would allow Lear to demand lower prices for resin, the raw material for most interior trim.

[Chinga]

UPDATE 1-Lear interested in venture with Collins & Aikman
Tue Aug 16, 2005 10:54 AM ET
Printer Friendly / Email Article / Reprints / RSS

(Adds details from letter)

BOSTON, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Lear Corp. (LEA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday it was interested in combining its interior components business with a related businesses of bankrupt Collins & Aikman Corp. (CKCRQ.PK: Quote, Profile, Research).

Auto interiors supplier Lear delivered a letter of interest to Frank Macher, chief executive at Collins & Aikman, which called creating a joint venture an attractive alternative, the company said in a statement.

"Lear is as well positioned as any other potential bidder to raise third-party equity financing if necessary to complete a transaction," Lear Chief Financial Officer David Wajsgras wrote in the letter.

The company, which makes seats, door panels and other vehicle components, asked for access to information necessary to make a proposal.

Collins & Aikman, which filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors in May only days after it warned of a significant liquidity crunch, has already received a takeover offer from privately held Plastech Engineered Products Inc.

Media reports have put the Plastech offer at around $1 billion for a company that has annual revenue approaching $4 billion.

[Chinga]

Lear delivers letter of interest to Collins & Aikman
Tue Aug 16, 2005 10:51 AM ET
Printer Friendly / Email Article / Reprints / RSS

BOSTON, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Lear Corp. (LEA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday it was interested in combining its interior components business with a related businesses of bankrupt Collins & Aikman Corp. (CKCRQ.PK: Quote, Profile, Research).

Lear said in a statement that it delivered a letter of interest to the chief executive of Collins & Aikman.

[Chinga]

2nd bidder Lear - Company Overview



Lear was founded in 1917 in Detroit as American Metal Products, a manufacturer of tubular, welded and stamped assemblies for the automotive and aircraft industries. Lear has grown to meet the changing needs of the industry with 18 major acquisitions since 1994, when Lear went public.

Today, the company exclusively serves the global automotive industry and supplies product for all five major interior systems: seat, instrument panel/cockpit, door and trim, overhead and flooring and acoustics. Lear is also one of the leading global automotive suppliers in electronic and electrical products. There is a Lear product in more than 300 nameplates around the world.

The success of Lear is a result of our dedication to provide the best possible service to the world's automakers - which includes understanding their customers, the automotive consumer - by delivering increased value through the latest vehicle interior technologies and the continuous improvement of our processes and product quality. All of this is reflected in Lear's exclusive People-Vehicle-Interface Methodology™. By utilizing the PVI Method, Lear employs an innovation development discipline that turns market opportunities into the products that consumers want and customers need in their vehicles.





http://www.lear.com

[Chinga]

C&A has $37M in incentives chips

RALEIGH - Auto supplier Collins & Aikman has generated $37 million in North Carolina tax credits under a law aimed at creating jobs, even though the now-bankrupt company since 1997 has shrunk its work force in the state by 70 percent.

The tax credits were "generated," in North Carolina Department of Commerce parlance, because of research and development undertaken by the company, which manufactures interior fabrics and other supplies for the car industry.

Such credits are allowed under the William S. Lee Act, a state law aimed at generating new jobs. The credits make C&A the largest single claimant for Lee credits since 2002, easily eclipsing giants such as IBM, GlaxoSmithKline and Cisco Systems.

Now, it appears C&A - or at least some of its divisions - will end up on the sale block, and any buyer would inherit the credits, according to an official in the North Carolina Department of Revenue. Dearborn, Mich., auto supplier Plastech Engineered Products Inc., on Aug. 9 announced it was offering $1 billion in cash to purchase the remnants of the company. C&A officials say they are studying the offer.

In 1997, C&A employed 7,000 people at 18 North Carolina plants stretching from the Triangle to Charlotte. Nowadays, the company has a North Carolina worker roster of just 1,800 at seven sites, says company spokesman David Youngman.

The company has three plants in Roxboro and one each in Troy, Farmville, Albemarle and Old Fort.

C&A is one of the nation's top auto suppliers, but its financial fall has been a horrific one. Until May, the company was headed by David A. Stockman, who gained fame during the Reagan administration as an architect of "trickle-down economics" and for his heavy hand with the budget ax.

The reason for Stockman's resignation has been shrouded in mystery, especially given that it came just a week before the company filed for bankruptcy. The company blames slumping U.S. auto production, higher commodity prices, stiff competition and bloated debt for its financial woes.

Youngman declines to offer much of a glimpse of the firm's future post Chapter 11 reorganization. "Obviously there are a lot of possibilities, and included in that is the sale of divisions," he says. "We are currently working on a bankruptcy plan."

If C&A accepts an offer to sell, the new owner could continue to take the existing credits as long as it maintains employment at the facilities or keeps manufacturing equipment in place, says Greg Radford of the North Carolina Department of Revenue.

Through the years, C&A has been no stranger to officials at the North Carolina Department of Revenue. The company piled up $37 million in tax credit chips with filings submitted from 2002 through 2004.


In 2004, the firm filed for $12.6 million in R&D credits, but its bottom line allowed it to take just $95,000 off its North Carolina returns. The remaining $11.6 million remains on the books for use by C&A - or any company that buys C&A.

With $3.9 billion in sales in 2003, C&A is one of the largest U.S. auto suppliers, turning out fabrics and other parts to the big three U.S. automakers as well as to Japan's Toyota, Honda and Nissan.

As best as can be determined during a turbulent period for the company, C&A's global work force stands at about 23,000 in plants scattered in 17 countries.

C&A is meeting its immediate liquidity demands with help from JPMorgan Chase, which is providing debtor-in-possession financing. A who's-who list of customers has offered up $83 million in temporary price increases on contracts. The customers, including DaimlerChrysler, Ford and General Motors, rushed in to help C&A because, in the auto industry, changing a supplier isn't a simple matter.

Parts are made according to safety and other considerations, explains Jim Gillette, director of supplier analysis for CSM Worldwide. "Collins accounts for roughly 50 percent of North American floor systems," he says. "And I don't think any automakers are going to be putting out cars without interior carpets." Neither Gillette nor members of his family own shares of C&A. CSM Worldwide does supply the company with auto industry forecasts.

The industry's reliance on C&A for parts, in other words, all but guarantees that production will continue at C&A's plants.

As for who might end up owning C&A's North Carolina tax credits, time will tell.

[Chinga]

Lear eyes possible bid for Collins & Aikman - paper

Mon Aug 15, 2005 4:39 AM ET



FRANKFURT, Aug 15 (Reuters) - U.S. auto interiors supplier Lear Corp <LEA.N> is considering a bid for bankrupt rival Collins & Aikman <CKCRQ.PK>, the Automotive News industry paper reported on Monday, citing unidentified sources close to Lear.

"The sources said Lear might buy part or all of Collins & Aikman," the paper said, noting a full takeover would create North America's largest interiors supplier with combined sales that could total $13.19 billion.

Lear officials were not immediately available for comment.

Collins & Aikman, which filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors in May only days after it warned of a significant liquidity crunch, has already received a takeover offer from privately held Plastech Engineered Products Inc.

Media reports have put the Plastech offer at around $1 billion for a company that has annual revenue approaching $4 billion.

[Chinga]

Expect to see more competing bids to buy C&A

I am hearing that a competing bid -- and one C&A insider said the company expected more of them, will be announced soon.

As to the $1 billion Plastech bid,they have been interested in buying parts of C&A for three to four years. A person familiar with the offer said that Plastech wants C&A for its business with Asian automakers as well as its contracts on products such as instrument panels, a line of work Plastech does not have.


If successful, the bid for Troy-based C&A could ensure a steady supply of parts to assembly plants across the country -- something that the Detroit automakers have been concerned about because if the C&A went under it could slow down or shut down auto plants across North America or even Europe.

Plastech has discussed its interest in buying C&A with Detroit's three automakers, which each do about $1 billion or more in business with the company and have C&A parts on important vehicles such as the Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Corvette and Chrysler 300.


Plastech came away "with the idea that the automakers are supportive of the move," said a source familiar with the offer.

Plastech hopes to buy C&A as quickly as possible, before the supplier loses any business or customers, said people familiar with the deal.


Corporations often like to buy other companies out of bankruptcy because the purchase comes free and clear of all sorts of financial obligations, like pensions, labor claims or product-liability suits.


Companies are also far cheaper to buy in bankruptcy -- which is why a company like Plastech, which is one-fourth the size of C&A, bid to purchase it.

If it acquired C&A, Plastech would become the fourth-largest privately held company in Michigan.

Bottom line is expect to see more competing bids come to light in the days ahead.

[Chinga]

$1-billion offer on table for Collins & Aikman
BY JEFFREY McCRACKEN
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

August 9, 2005


Dearborn auto supplier Plastech Engineered Products Inc. is offering up to $1 billion in cash to purchase rival supplier Collins & Aikman Corp. out of bankruptcy.


Plastech's offer is subject to its examination of Collins & Aikman's finances and operations, according to a letter sent to C&A on Monday and obtained by the Free Press. The offer could be for less than $1 billion if it finds C&A is in worse shape than Plastech estimates.


Plastech, which has annual sales of $1.3 billion, is the largest female-owned business in Michigan.


In the letter sent to C&A's board of directors, lawyers, financial advisers and creditors, Plastech said that it wants to start the evaluation process "as soon as possible."


Its owner, Julie Brown, and Plastech officials want to meet with C&A's creditors and unions directly to discuss the offer and push for their support.


Troy-based C&A tumbled into bankruptcy May 17, shortly after its former Chief Executive Officer David Stockman was forced out.


C&A, which has annual sales of $4 billion, makes parts such as instrument panels on 90% of the vehicles built in the country.


Plastech said in the letter that it thinks it will receive "strong support" for the bid from Detroit's three automakers.


It has hired the prominent Wall Street financial firm of Goldman Sachs to line up funding for the offer.


It also said in the letter that it will contribute its own funds to the deal.

[Chinga]

Takeover bid is 1 Billion Dollars.

[Chinga]

52 week high is $4.90

[Chinga]

Total O/S is only 83 million shares here.

[Chinga]

Plastech Makes Bid for Collins & Aikman
8/9/2005 4:08:00 PM
DETROIT, Aug 09, 2005 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Plastech Engineered Products Inc. has made a $1 billion bid to buy rival auto-parts supplier Collins & Aikman Corp., which filed for bankruptcy in May, according to a letter obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press.

"We would like to bring our competencies to C&A and help maximize value for its creditors, constituents and customers," Plastech chairman and Chief Executive Julie Brown said in the letter, which was sent to Collins & Aikman's board of directors.

Collins & Aikman spokesman David Youngman said the company was considering the offer.

"We are going to evaluate all legitimate offers as we continue to develop our business plan, and we will act accordingly in the best interest of our creditors to maximize the value of our enterprise," Youngman said.

Youngman wouldn't say whether any other companies have made bids to buy Collins & Aikman. He said there is no deadline for the company to respond to Plastech's bid.

Dearborn-based Plastech is the largest woman-owned company in Michigan. It was founded by Brown in 1988 and makes plastic vehicle components, including spoilers, mud flaps and interior door panels.

If the bid is successful, it would quadruple the size of privately held Plastech, which earns about $1 billion in annual revenues, Brown said in the letter. Collins & Aikman had total sales of $3.9 billion last year.

Plastech said it wants to start evaluating Collins & Aikman "as soon as possible, on an expedited basis, and at its own expense." Plastech said it could complete due diligence and submit a formal proposal within one month if it is given access to Collins & Aikman.

Plastech said it has hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. as a financial adviser and believes it will be able to secure adequate financing for the deal.

Troy-based Collins & Aikman is one of the largest U.S. auto suppliers. It provides automotive flooring, fabric and instrument panels to the Big Three automakers as well as Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. Collins & Aikman supplies content to 90 percent of the vehicles made in North America, according to the company.

The supplier filed for bankruptcy on May 17, shortly after the resignation of its chairman and CEO David Stockman, a former congressman who also served as budget director in the Reagan administration. The bankruptcy filing was widely expected for the troubled supplier, which was struggling with the high cost of steel and other raw materials and production cuts at General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., the two biggest U.S.-based carmakers.

Collins & Aikman is working on a business plan that is scheduled to be released later this month. On Monday, a federal bankruptcy court allowed Collins & Aikman to collect $82.5 million in temporary price increases from its customers.

---

On the Net:

Plastech Engineered Products Inc., http://www.plastecheng.com/

Collins & Aikman Corp., http://www.collinsaikman.com/

[hlniv]

FOund bottom at the 06 area. Up to .16 now. I got in and out too quick on this one, didn't make jack. Looks like its on a big turn up now. I'd buy more now, but no capital. Other positions eating away at my wallet now....

[w0od]

ckcr is now a pinkie you need a pinkie L2 sub not included with most brokerages

[SEBASS]

Anyone knows why i can't view Level II(book orders) and charts for CKCR ? I tried ameritrade, inet, arca...none display level II or charts however i can see charting on stockcharts but it's not sreamed and still can't see Level II anywhere ? WHY ?

Anyone has any advise. Thanks

[russelljjr53]

what is going on here?
the bk ride

[hlniv]

Guess this things going toward a penny. At .07 now. NOsedive... Once it finds bottom, should be a nice buy....

[hlniv]

Apparently, Chapter 11 filing coming today... Not sure where the bottom is on this one now.... Looked to me like .13 was it. This thing was $7 a year and a half ago. I'm thinking the huge gap down and 90% drop on Friday already had the Ch11 built in. Somedoy was dumping in anticipation. I'm thinking this goes a little north from here..... Of course, I could be wrong. This could end up a cellar dweller subpenny for all I know.... :(

[harr449]

check bloomberg tv headline banner. wall street journal story?

Same stocks??? I don't own, just heads up.

[hlniv]

Helloooooooo...... So, this thing bouncing this week, or what????