Water Gremlin Company (“Water Gremlin”), was founded in 1946 in White Bear Township, Minnesota, as a manufacturer of recreational fishing sinkers. The Company expanded and grew to become the world’s largest manufacturer and designer of lead battery terminals for the automotive industry. Water Gremlin made a voluntary self-disclosure regarding excess emission of a chemical compound, trichloroethylene (“TCE”). Following the self disclosure, over 90 plaintiffs served complaints against Water Gremlin asserting various tort causes of action based on their alleged exposure to TCE released by Water Gremlin. As a result, Water Gremlin elected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and pursue a 363 sale.
Intrepid Investment Bankers was retained as the exclusive investment banker to Water Gremlin. Intrepid was able to raise third-party DIP financing to provide the funds to effectuate the Chapter 11 process. In addition, Intrepid ran a robust sale process and completed a successful cross-border transaction for the Minnesota-based operations and the Italy-based operations.