SAN FRANCISCO–American Pacific will close its doors today.
Kaela Forker, co-chief executive officer, said the company will undergo an assignment to creditors—which will, in effect, dissolve the company—today. The company’s board of directors, on behalf of the company’s banks, will appoint an assignee to liquidate the assets, Forker said.
Forker also said that through the end of last week, “We had a strong belief that we could facilitate a deal to enable American Pacific to continue as a going concern.” She said a purchase was in the works with another company, which she declined to name, but that the proposed deal fell through.
American Pacific was founded in 1984 by Jared Block, who died about three weeks ago of pancreatic cancer. In the early 1990s, the company played a crucial role in a surge in popularity of quilts in the U.S. market. Eventually, American Pacific extended its product line to include licensed products under the Nautica, Liz Claiborne, Villager and Docker brands, along with its proprietary brands Suite 109 and Armoire.
The Block family sold a controlling interest in the company in 2004 to Genstar Capital, based here. Forker said Greg Block, Jared Block’s son, retained a minority interest in the company. According to the Genstar Capital Web site, American Pacific had annual revenues of $150 million.