BRUNSWICK
A lending company is alleging that the founder of aircraft refurbishing firm Tempus Jets — which operates partly out of the former Brunswick Naval Air Station — is insolvent and owes more than $26 million in matured loans.
Through an attorney on Feb. 2, Firefly Financial Limited requested a federal judge impose a temporary restraining order and injunction to halt the break up the assets of Tempus Jets’ parent company, Tempus Intermediate Holdings LLC, based in Virginia. The creditor said that Tempus’s founder, Benjamin Scott Terry, has no means to compensate them if the defendant and his business partner, John G. Gulbin, sepa- rate their business interests and distribute the assets amongst themselves.
A U.S. District judge in Virginia, Henry Coke Morgan Jr., granted the joint order for the extension of the temporary order, which is active until March 3.
Tempus did not respond to the suit, and efforts to reach Terry were unsuccessful.
Firefly said in the action Terry would not be harmed by the temporary order or injunction because it would not preclude them from continuing day-to-day operations — it just seeks to preserve the lender’s collateral in the company, because Terry promised membership interest in Tempus Intermediate Holdings to secure the loan, according to the suit.
Any transactions where Terry and Gulbin would acquire assets of the business for themselves would be a breach of contract, said Firefly. According to the suit, Firefly said Terry and Gulbin were in the process of breaking up the business, and subsidiary Tempus Aircraft Sale and Service LLC, which has an estimated value of $15 million, would transfer to Gulbin and remaining assets of TIH would be distributed to Terry.
In the company’s most recent quarterly report filed in September with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the document showed the parent company was operating with a capital deficit, and a revenue report from the previous nine months showed a loss of $697,000. The principal reason for the negative cash flow, according to the report, is a delay in the start of contracts won, or expected to be won. Management said in the report they expect the start-up costs associated with those contracts to be recovered in a year. Staff and facilities has been reduced to cut costs, the quarterly report said.
Here since 2013
Tempus Jets has operated at Brunswick Executive Airport since 2013, leasing hangar and office space at 2 Pegasus St. Around that time, the company was hopeful that, in a few more years, it would create up to 200 jobs in Brunswick. However, an individual who answered the telephone at Tempus Jets but declined to be identified said there are currently seven full-time positions at the Brunswick location.
The lease at Brunswick Executive Airport is currently a month to month agreement, and the report said the unpaid lease amount totaled $115,000.
Steve Levesque, executive director of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, said Tempus is making strides to repay the amount, although he did not give an exact number on the amount of money recouped because he is not at liberty to disclose that information. Levesque said the redevelopment authority and Tempus Jets are currently negotiating a longer-term lease.
Levesque said it is not uncommon for a business to be late with lease payments. “It happens — running a business is tough work,” he said, adding that a hiccup with a contract can cause a business to fall behind. A vast majority of businesses catch up on payments, and he said the authority works with businesses to come to a solution.
Tempus also leases office and hangar space in Texas and Virginia.
jlaaka@timesrecord.com
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