Baldwin Feeling the Squeeze

[Billbrpt@AOL.COM]

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CINCINNATI (AP) - Baldwin Piano & Organ Co. may not be able to collect at 
least $2 million it is owed and could be evicted from its corporate 
headquarters for nonpayment, lawyers told a bankruptcy court. 

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge J. Vincent Aug Jr. promised a ruling as soon as Tuesday 
on whether to approve an interim financing arrangement to help Baldwin get 
through its Chapter 11 reorganization. 

The 139-year-old company filed for Chapter 11 on May 31, which allows a 
company to operate under bankruptcy court protection from lawsuits while it 
develops a plan to pay its creditors. 

Lawyers told the judge at a hearing Monday that Baldwin already has defaulted 
on a financing agreement with its main lender, General Electric Capital Corp. 
The companies said they are trying to negotiate new terms. 

Attorneys representing Baldwin's unsecured creditors urged the judge not to 
approve the interim financing for Baldwin. The other creditors fear that GE 
Capital will require repayment terms of Baldwin that will affect their 
ability to collect. 

Meanwhile, GE Capital had to advance Baldwin $800,000 to meet its last 
payroll. Duke Realty, a developer and landlord, wants to evict Baldwin from 
its headquarters, a warehouse and an outlet store in Mason, 20 miles north of 
Cincinnati, unless Baldwin resumes paying rent. 

Its rent debt for that space will reach $144,000 on Thursday, said Louis 
Solimine, a lawyer for Duke Realty. 

Baldwin management also says the company is unlikely to soon collect at least 
$2 million it had been counting on receiving from two customers. Baldwin said 
its largest piano dealer, Chicago-based Biasco Musical Instrument Co., is 
itself in financial trouble and cannot pay at least $1 million it owes the 
piano maker. 

And, Deutsche Financial Services will not pay about $1 million that Baldwin 
was expecting. Deutsche wiped out that obligation on the basis of financing 
it had provided to Baldwin before the Chapter 11 filing, Baldwin lawyer Tim 
Hurley said. 


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