Chicago-based poultry, pork and beef wholesaler Charles Austin Ltd. has purchased a Custom Poultry Processing LLC chicken plant in Charles City, Iowa.
The $2.27 million purchase was approved in bankruptcy court following an auction on May 26. Custom Poultry had petitioned the court to sell the plant in April, after falling into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January.
Charles Austin plans to maintain the plant's status as a kill facility, according to the company. It will process whole chickens initially and do further processing down the road. The plant is expected to re-open on Sept. 1 with 100 workers, which will grow to 150 by the end of the year and 250 by the end of 2012.
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