Lunt Manufacturing Co., Inc.

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Lunt Manufacturing Co., Inc. was a privately held magnesium die casting company headquartered in Schaumburg, IL, USA.

The company was established by Helmut Brandt in 1973 initially producing magnesium die castings for chain saws. For most of its history, Lunt was one of the only die casting companies exclusively devoted to magnesium alloys and one of the most diversified magnesium die casting companies in the world.

The company had 3 manufacturing facilities: Schaumburg, IL, USA (65,000 sq ft), Hampshire, IL, USA (152,000 sq ft) and a joint venture facility in Suzhou, China (46,000 sq ft). It also had a support office in Troy, MI, USA.

Lunt primarily served the automotive industry (80%) although it still had significant activity in the power tool and recreational industries.

Lunt experienced financial problems in late 2006 and began looking for a buyer in early 2007.

By 3rd quarter 2007, no buyer had been found and Lunt entered into an Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors on September 18, 2007. During this process, the Assignee renewed efforts to find an on-going concern buyer as well as began a wind-down of its operations. Given the number of customers, especially in automotive, and the complexity of moving programs to alternative suppliers, the wind-down took until the beginning of January 2008. As no on-going concern buyers were found during that time, the Assignee proceeded to look for a buyer for the assets of the company.

By February 22, 2008, an Asset Purchase Agreement was signed with a group of liquidators and notifications published in the Chicago Tribune Auction Mart on 03/02/2008 and 03/09/2008. Under the requirements of an Assignment, the Assignee was still obligated to hold an auction to find any buyers willing to purchase Lunt's entire assets for a higher price. The date for this auction was set to March 11, 2008.

(This was a WARN event – DETS number 20070924002.)