Business World

Electrical Components International Inc., a manufacturer of wire harnesses for appliances, sought bankruptcy protection with a plan to reduce debt by about 50 percent.

The Creve Coeur-based company listed assets of about $363.6 million and debt of about $435.7 million in Chapter 11 documents filed Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. The company is owned by San Francisco-based private-equity firm Francisco Partners LP.

Electrical Components makes wire harnesses, bundles of wires or cables fitted with connectors or plugs that deliver electricity throughout appliances.

David J. Webster, chief executive of Electrical Components, said in court filings that the company had had financial difficulties since late 2007 because of the downturn in the housing market.

The company had taken cost-cutting measures including plant shutdowns and consolidations and layoffs, but "the downturn continued to reduce sales at unprecedented levels and consequently reduce earnings," Webster said.

Under a proposal the company worked out with creditors before bankruptcy, lenders with the highest level of repayment — owed a principal of about $261.4 million — would get 54.7 percent of the new common stock in the reorganized company and a $145 million term loan. Some of the lenders elected to receive $10.4 million in cash rather than stock.

Investors have agreed to buy the remaining 45.3 percent of the new stock.

Lenders with a secondary priority of repayment, owed a principal of $60 million, would share $10 million. Unsecured creditors wouldn’t be affected, and would be paid what they’re owed as it is due.

The company said it was the largest supplier of wire harnesses to the North American white goods market, a term used for large home appliances. The company generated $460 million in sales for the year ended Dec. 31.

Electrical Components International was formed in 2006 when Clayton-based Viasystems Group Inc. sold its wire harness business to Francisco Partners for about $320 million.

The Viasystems wire harness business was renamed Electrical Components International and operated as a stand-alone company under Electrical Components International Holdings, a subsidiary of Francisco Partners.

Robert Kelly of the Post-Dispatch contributed.

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