Vision Industries Corp. (fka VIICQ)

[otc market movers]

By Joseph Checkler

Vision Industries Corp., the maker of a zero-emission tractor trailer and other energy-efficient vehicles, said it filed for Chapter 11 protection earlier this week after an attempt to increase the authorized share count failed.

In a petition filed Wednesday with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles, Vision reported assets of $1.3 million and liabilities of $3.2 million.

In a press release issued Wednesday, Vision said it asked equity holders to authorize an increase in the company's authorized share count to 10 billion, from 500 million, at an August meeting. Management sought the increase so it could seek more funding.

"We are disappointed by the lack of participation by our shareholders, especially by our main shareholder," Vision Chief Executive Martin Schuermann said in the press release. "This more than limited our options to raise capital; it effectively made it impossible."

Calls and emails to Jerome Torresyap, Vision's chief operating officer, weren't immediately returned. Mr. Torresyap signed Vision's Chapter 11 petition.

Vision requested extensions of deadlines for many of the Chapter 11 filing requirements, so very little information about the bankruptcy is known, beyond a list of the company's unsecured creditors.

The company's shares are publicly traded over the counter, and the most recent available Securities and Exchange Commission filings show that its largest shareholder is affiliated with Novium AG, a Swiss investment manager. An email to Novium wasn't immediately returned.

According to the bankruptcy court filings, Novium also holds $500,000 in Vision debt.

The company's largest creditor appears to be QIF Malta, which made some filings alongside Novium in 2012 as a shareholder. It is unclear how the two are affiliated, and it appears neither has sold its shares. The company has 118.4 million shares outstanding.

Late last year, Vision said in a press release that it executed its first Department of Energy grant for a cargo "demonstration" and projected profitability for the company in 2014. A month later, it retracted that press release, saying it needed to seek a consensus on how to account for such grants.

Long Beach, Calif.-based Vision was incorporated in 2005 and develops zero-emission electric/hydrogen power vehicles. The company says its Tyrano is the first street-legal zero-emission class 8 hydrogen/electric hybrid truck with a maximum gross vehicle weight of 80,000 pounds. It also developed a zero-emission hybrid terminal tractor and a 425-horsepower sports car called the "Cheetah," which it says on its website is the world's first "green Supercar."

According to its most recent SEC quarterly report, Vision has six employees. According to a filing, Chief Financial Officer Dennis P. Gauger left the company Sept. 18, though not because of a disagreement with the company. Mr. Schuermann took over as interim chief financial officer, the company said.

(Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review covers news about distressed companies and those under bankruptcy protection. Go to http://dbr.dowjones.com)

Write to Joseph Checkler at [e-mail]

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 26, 2014 14:15 ET (18:15 GMT)

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