Published: Tuesday, Sep. 22, 2009

Updated: Tuesday, Sep. 22, 2009

Local marine supplier Ameritex facing foreclosure

MANATEE — A local marine supplier that recently sold itself to emerge from bankruptcy now is facing foreclosure.

A Missouri-based bank is suing Ameritex Technologies Inc., contending the company defaulted on $6.8 million in mortgages on its Manatee manufacturing facility, court records show.

First Bank filed the suit in Manatee County Circuit Court on Sept. 10, just a week after Taylor Made Group Inc. announced it had bought Ameritex out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy and renamed it Ameritex Fabric Systems. The suit also names Taylor Made, a marine supplier in Gloversville, N.Y., as a defendant.

Ameritex and Taylor Made officials did not immediately return voice messages Monday.

The bank is seeking to foreclose on roughly 6.2 acres at 2111 58th Ave. E., where Ameritex makes marine canvas and windshield systems. Ameritex plans to vacate the facility and move its operations to a Taylor Made facility at 1900 47th Terrace E. as part of the sale, according to Bradenton Herald archives.

The foreclosure suit centers on two loans that the former Coast Bank of Florida, which First Bank later acquired, made to Ameritex.

The first, a $3.58 million loan taken out in 2002, was used to build a 42,000-square-foot addition to Ameritex’s facility. Ameritex later borrowed another $220,000 under the same loan.

The company borrowed another $3 million in 2006, pledging its facility as collateral. The suit did not give the reason for the second loan.

First Bank claims Ameritex has defaulted on both loans and owes the bank nearly $6.5 million in combined principal, interest and late fees. The suit did not specify how Ameritex allegedly defaulted.

Ameritex filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in June, but a judge dismissed the petition at the company’s request in August, court records show.

Those records show Ameritex agreed for Dowco Inc., another marine supplier, to acquire most of Ameritex’s assets for $2.65 million but the deal never closed. First Bank objected to the proposed sale, saying it would not protect the bank’s security interest in the manufacturing facility.