Power Plate International, Irvine, CA, has filed for reorganization and is up for sale. Parties interested in the company include one led by Gregg Hammann, who resigned as CEO of Power Plate two weeks ago.
Hammann says he had to resign his post in order to attempt to purchase the company. Members of the Power Plate executive team also resigned two weeks ago, but most are now back with the company in a temporary role until a buyer has been finalized. Hammann adds he is assisting the company even though he is no longer CEO. His group is one of three potential suitors.
Power Plate filed for reorganization in both the United States and the United Kingdom. The company is owned by majority shareholder J.H. Whitney and Co., a private-equity firm based in New Canaan, CT.
With Whitney’s fund about to close this year, a sale process began last March that involved equity firms as potential suitors. Within the past four weeks, a deal to sell the international portion of Power Plate’s business was in place but fell through at the 11th hour.
A representative at Whitney said the company does not comment on its portfolio companies.
A principal at High Ridge Partners, Chicago, which is facilitating the sale of Power Plate, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Several lawsuits in recent years have burdened Power Plate, which owes money to creditors through settlements in excess of 50 percent of the company’s revenue.
“The important thing is we’ve got a great brand with two of the best product innovations we’ve introduced in the history of the company, between the my7 and the pro7 products,” Hammann says. “With the pro7 in the commercial club business, we’re having trouble keeping up with production. That’s how well that’s going. We’ve just got to get some of this administrative stuff taken care of so we can move on.”