Fabrikant Chapter 11 filing? Implications?

[starryeyed]

In the thread entitled \"Ever found your diamond on Blue Nile?\", Capt Aubrey mentions that Fabrikant has filed for Chapter 11.

I did notice that the link www.royalasscher.com wasn''t working and the domain name had apparently expired.

Decodelighted wondered what this will do to the patent and the supply of Royal Asschers. Any info or thoughts about this would be appreciated!

 

[Madam Bijoux]

At best, this might cause the prices of Royal Asschers to be lowered. I hope some of the vendors and experts chime in here.

 

[starryeyed]

Here is a press release from Boston.com.

Madam, lower prices on Royal Asschers is music to my ears! How glorious would that be?! I wonder if that''s true though - if the company is in bankruptcy, I would think supply of RA''s would tighten and prices could go up. Are you thinking that the patent/branding restrictions would loosen allowing the price to fall to a generic asscher? Hmm....

 

[Regular Guy]

I had another passing interest in this.

Having heard locally advertisements for diamonds "cut by Tolkowsky," I tried to google search them to see where there may be other local distributors (GOG seems to have been a known distributor for at least a short while). And, I recently read of the relationship between Fabrikant and Tolkowsky.

And then, I yesterday read here about the filing, googled for that, and saw it dated November.

But, I''m thinking this is probably like KMart and such...staying in business, continuing to do what it is they do, as they reorganize themselves.

I''m interested in any fall out, too.

 

[starryeyed]

Ok, so I just got off the phone with Fabrikant - I had to call. Here''s the scoop:

The company is "restructuring" and it''s business as usual. However, Fabrikant is no longer the North American distributor for Royal Asschers - it''s now JB International. This transfer happened about a year or so ago.

JB''s website is www.jbidiamonds.com. I called them too and they confirmed this info.

Oh well Madam, so much for lower prices on Royal Asschers! My bubble is burst!

 

[JohnQuixote]

Date: 12/12/2006 10:02:45 AM
Author: starryeyed
Ok, so I just got off the phone with Fabrikant - I had to call. Here's the scoop:

The company is 'restructuring' and it's business as usual. However, Fabrikant is no longer the North American distributor for Royal Asschers - it's now JB International. This transfer happened about a year or so ago.

JB's website is www.jbidiamonds.com. I called them too and they confirmed this info.

Oh well Madam, so much for lower prices on Royal Asschers! My bubble is burst!

Starryeyed, I'm not surprised that you had to chase down information. There have been several stages to the restructuring.

For anyone interested, here’s a story from our trade news section, October 31.

In 1986 M. Fabrikant & Sons partnered with Salant of Israel to become the Fabrikant & Salant Group. The Salant family has announced its full acquisition of the partnership now and the company name will change to Salant Group Ltd.

These two companies have a rich history in the industry. The Salant family has existed since 1948, operating in the Israeli Diamond Exchange. M. Fabrikant & Sons operated out of New York beginning in 1895 as a small wholesaler in the Bowery and expanded over five generations into a global operation headquartered in Rockefeller Plaza. The Fabrikant & Salant Group became a DeBeers sightholder in 1990.


A Widely Spread News Story on Yahoo, November 19, about Chapter 11
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061119/nysu016.html?.v=68

NEW YORK, Nov. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- M. Fabrikant & Sons, Inc., ("Fabrikant" or the "Company"), the world leader of fine diamonds and jewelry, announced today that it, together with its domestic subsidiary, Fabrikant-Leer International, Ltd., filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The Company's foreign and domestic affiliates were not included in the Chapter 11 filing.

The Company is expected to continue to operate its business during the pendency of this Chapter 11 case as a debtor in possession under the Bankruptcy Code. The Company expects a smooth transition into Chapter 11, with all of its facilities expected to remain open on normal schedules.
Fabrikant has negotiated financing arrangements with its senior secured lenders that remain subject to court approval. Using the Chapter 11 process, Fabrikant plans to continue to pay employee wages and benefits and to honor the customer fulfillment obligations and programs for which the Company has become so well known, and to make uninterrupted payments to suppliers for goods and services.

In addition, the Company continues to actively pursue a full range of strategic alternatives, including the sale or refinancing of the firm. Fabrikant believes that its Chapter 11 proceedings currently provide the best opportunity to maximize the value of its assets and its business for all stakeholders.

New York-based Fabrikant enjoys an excellent reputation, dating back over four generations. Since inception the Company has grown to become one of the world's foremost diamond and jewelry wholesalers, and has developed a number of strategic manufacturing and distributing international affiliates. The family run and operated company plans to continue their dedication to healthy growth of the industry.


And clarification from November 29 - covered by trade press but not as widely covered in the mainstream
http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullNews.asp?id=26606

Fabrikant Clarifies: Fabrikant-Tara International not in Chapter 11
(November 29, '06, 8:52 IDEX Online Staff Reporter)

M. Fabrikant and Sons has announced that its Chapter 11 filing and the Chapter 11 filing for Fabrikant-Leer International is limited to those two companies.

M. Fabrikant and Sons specifically noted that Fabrikant-Tara International, LLC, a diamond and gemstone jewelry wholesaler, primarily owned by Tara Jewels Holdings, Inc. and, in part, by M. Fabrikant & Sons, has not filed for Chapter 11 and does not anticipate that the bankruptcy filings of M. Fabrikant & Sons or Fabrikant-Leer International will adversely affect its operations.

Fabrikant-Tara International, LLC continues to operate its business and fulfill all of its commitments to its vendors and customers, the company stated.

 

[starryeyed]

Thanks John - interesting.

What I wonder is why did Fabrikant give up distribution of Royal Asschers?

 

[simplysplendid]

I can''t find www.royalasscher.com but www.asscher.nl is still there..

 

[starryeyed]

Yes, DB International said that Fabrikant wanted crazy money for the domain name, so they did away with it and are just using www.asscher.com.