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YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    Public Company Files For Bankruptcy--Very Quietly

    By William P. Barrett | Forbes – Mon, Dec 12, 2011

    See update at end of story

    Get on the home page of Americas Energy Co., and you'll receive a nice pitch. "Welcome," it reads. "We are a consolidator of high quality energy properties, operating out of our main offices in Knoxville, TN."

    Here's what you won't learn. The publicly traded company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week. In an December 7 petition with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee in Knoxville, Americas Energy listed assets at no more than $1 million and liabilities that could reach as high as $10 million. A meeting of creditors is scheduled for January 4.

    Under the section of the Americas Energy Web site entitled, "Our News," the most recent posts are links to YouTube-posted videos about purported coal production on assorted properties and bullish stories about the future of coal.

    Now, as an investor, do you think a bankruptcy filing in which shareholders could be wiped out is the kind of material information that the company should have shared, if not on the Web then in a press release or a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission? After failing to find any such public notifications, we called and emailed the company today asking about this. Our messages were not returned.

    Here at Forbes we know a little background about Americas Energy.  In early 2010 we published an item about the firm headlined, "Lump of Coal." The story said shares had risen an astonishing 4,500% in a year to $4.60 despite no revenue, no cash and a negative net worth. Someone had paid a newsletter writer serious coin to churn out predictions the stock would hit $20. Other problems noted included a company official convicted of tax evasion and the fact that the firm, once called Trend Technology Corp., previously had been based in that noted scam center of Vancouver, B.C., where authorities  barred trading in its shares.

    The stock is now down to 4 cents a share. A look at its latest SEC filing, for the period ending September 30, provides some insights. Cash on the balance sheet was all of $1,885. On total revenue for six months of $257,000, the company managed to lose $8.8 million. There's a going-concern warning. The filing was signed by founder and CEO Christopher L. Headrick, whose bio has listed background in real estate but nothing in the energy business.

    December 15 UPDATE: A day after this post about Americas Energy's quiet bankruptcy filing, the company saw fit to announce it in a filing with the SEC and a link on the company Website.

    Americas also said in the same filing had reached an agreement with a Chinese company called Beijing Guohua Technology Group.  The filing said Beijing Guohua would pay $6 million for a 30% stake in Americas Energy provided it consummated a deal to acquire certain assets from Alpha Natural Resources of Virginia for $71 million.

    The deal with Beijing Guohua may or may not be an arm's length transaction. A page on the Beijing Guohua website says one of its units is Guohua Technology Corp. of Lexington, Ky. According to its LinkedIn profile, Guohua Technology's  president is Samuel S. Johnson. His LinkedIn profile says that until late last year was the chief operating officer of Americas Energy.

    In any event, the market does not seem to be impressed. Americas Engery shares have fallen more than 25% this week and are now trading at 3 cents.

     

    Follow William P. Barrett's work on Twitter by clicking here.

     

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