Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era

Firm

Gordonville firm buys accounts of Pennfield mill

A Gordonville feed maker is buying a Pennfield mill's accounts receivable, customer list and custom formulations.

Hoober Feeds is purchasing the receivables, list and formulations of Pennfield's mill in South Montrose, Susquehanna County, for $105,000.

Hoober Feeds bid for the items during an auction of Pennfield assets held Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Philadelphia.

The purchase is expected to be finalized this week.

At that same proceeding last week, two other buyers stepped up to acquire different Pennfield assets.

Pennfield's mills in Mount Joy and Martinsburg, Blair County, were bought by Cargill for $9.8 million. These mills continue to operate.

The South Montrose mill was purchased by Keystone Mills of Romulus, N.Y., for $245,000. This mill stopped operating in late December.

The Hoober Feeds transaction brings it formulations for dairy feed, a list of more than 800 customers (past and current) and about $190,000 in receivables.

Though Hoober Feeds is active in southcentral Pennsylvania and central New York, the purchase gives it a presence in northern Pennsylvania and southern New York, too.

"It completes the geography for us," said Ron Moore, sales manager and a partner in Hoober Feeds.

Hoober Feeds will serve the ex-Pennfield customers by having customized feeds made for them and delivered by an independent New York feed mill.

The New York mill already does toll mixing for Hoober Feeds to serve the Gordonville company's customers in central New York, explained Moore.

Lancaster-based Pennfield filed for bankruptcy in October, after losing more than $3 million in each of the prior three years.

An initial deal to sell its operating assets to a start-up firm, Wellsource Nutrition, fell through in December. That led to last week's auction.

Hoober Feeds, founded in 1937, makes feeds and provides nutritional services for farmers.

tmekeel@lnpnews.com

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