JPPS working on resolution with creditors

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JPPS working on resolution with creditors

By Michelle Graff

June 17, 2009

Central Islip, N.Y.--The auction for the assets of bankrupt jewelry manufacturer JPPS Inc., which owns the license for jewelry designer Penny Preville, did not take place as scheduled on Tuesday, but company executives said other negotiations are taking place.

Jay Siskin, president of Central Islip, N.Y.-based JPPS Inc. and husband of jewelry designer Penny Preville, told National Jeweler that the company is currently "in the process of negotiating a resolution that should lead to a financial distribution to secured and unsecured creditors."

Siskin would not release further details on what the resolution involves but said "the sale of the assets [of JPPS] is scheduled to be approved [by the court] next Tuesday with a closing immediately thereafter."

In a June 5 interview, Siskin told National Jeweler that Penny Preville, the designer, was staying in business and moving on, and that he expected to announce a joint venture partnership within two weeks. He would not give any further details on the status of this venture on Wednesday.

Documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York show that a group of six creditors forced JPPS Inc. into involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy in October 2008, and that the case was converted to a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection case in November.

It was not immediately clear whether or when the initially planned auction of JPPS Inc.'s assets would take place, given the negotiations Siskin described. But, previously, the plan was to auction inventory worth approximately $3.75 million at cost as of April 30; models, molds and castings; office furniture; technical equipment, including the company's Web site and its computers; and other property used in the business.

NEI Fashions LLC made an initial "all or nothing" opening bid of $1.35 million for the assets, which was estimated to be about 36 percent of the cost of the inventory.

What was not up for sale, however, was the Penny Preville name, which graced the display cases of high-end merchants such as London Jewelers and Neiman Marcus, or the ability to use this trademark in connection with the inventory. If purchased, the goods could have been sold only as generic.

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