O'Sullivan officials ask for permission to pay off creditors in England

While some creditors in Barton County and the surrounding area have pretty much been told by O'Sullivan Industries officials that they will not be paid as the company goes through Chapter 11 bankruptcy, creditors in England may receive far better treatment.
Documents filed Wednesday in U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia indicate a 2 p.m. Nov. 7 hearing will be held on O'Sullivan officials' request that they be allowed to pay off creditors in the United Kingdom. They asked to be allowed to do so, fearing that their fledgling operation in the U. K. might collapse if they are not allowed to pay the money. O'Sullivan Industries has about a dozen employees in that overseas office.
In addition to asking to pay off U. K. creditors, while stiffing those in an area that helped provide the framework that made O'Sullivan Furniture a household name, the company also is spending a considerable amount of money in other areas that might be deemed questionable for business success, including yesterday's SEC filing that indicates it has increased Rick Allan Walters pay by $100,000 annually, from $250,000 to $350,000 while he serves as interim CEO. Walters is already scheduled to receive an additional $200,000 guaranteed bonus, no matter how the company is doing, at the end of the year, bringing his total take to $550,000.
As The Turner Report mentioned earlier, as company officials were devising their bankruptcy strategy before the filing, they paid a $50,000 retainer to a public relations firm to smooth over any rough edges they might have to go through during the Chapter 11 process. The company may pay as much as $400 per hour to the firm for future services, according to Bankruptcy Court documents.