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Nov 03, 2023

S.A. company that armored vehicles reaches end of the line

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An employee at Texas Armoring Corp. is shown in 2016 welding metal panels inside a vehicle to make it bullet-resistant. The company filed for bankruptcy in April 2022. On Wednesday, a judge granted the company's request to convert the case to a Chapter 7 liquidation.

Trent Kimball, President and CEO of Texas Armoring Corp., at the company's San Antonio headquarters in 2017. On Wednesday, a bankruptcy judge granted the company's motion to convert its Chapter 11 case to Chapter 7 liquidation.

Vehicles undergoing armoring are seen inside Texas Armoring Corp.'s East Side facility in 2016. The company has armored cars and SUVs that were sent across the country and around the world.

Texas Armoring Corp. has specialized in providing bulletproof glass and armor made of ballistic steel for numerous car models.

A welders is shown in 2015 working on various portions of vehicles undergoing armoring installations at Texas Armoring Corp.

A welder is shown in 2014 working on a vehicle undergoing armoring installation at Texas Armoring Corp.

Trent Kimball, President and CEO of Texas Armoring Corporation, is shown in 2017 in front of a Ford "Black Ops" truck in the company's San Antonio facility.

Vehicles are shown in 2016 undergoing armoring at Texas Armoring Corp.'s San Antonio facility .

A bulletproof windshield is shown in 2014 at Texas Armoring Corp.

San Antonio's Texas Armoring Corp. became an internet sensation eight years ago with a YouTube video of its president getting shot at by an AK-47 while sitting behind the wheel of an armored Mercedes-Benz.

The stunt went viral, garnering some 28 million views over the years and generating attention for a company that specialized in protecting dignitaries and uber-wealthy people from terrorists and kidnappers by retrofitting vehicles with bullet-resistant steel and windows.

All the eyeballs didn't translate into cash flow for Texas Armoring, which a little more than a year ago sought protection from its creditors by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in San Antonio.

Texas Armoring will not be reorganizing its debts and emerging from bankruptcy, however. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Parker on Wednesday granted the company's request to convert the case to a Chapter 7 liquidation. That means its remaining assets will be sold and its operations wound down.

MORE ON TEXAS ARMORING: Texas Power Broker Trent Kimball takes bullets head on

The company offered a one-sentence explanation for the request in a court filing last month.

"The Debtor has attempted to reorganize, but realizes that it will be unable to propose a confirmable plan of reorganization," it said. The plan would have required court confirmation.

James Wilkins, Texas Armoring's bankruptcy lawyer, said after the court hearing that the plan couldn't be confirmed because the company wasn't generating enough income. Company owner Trent Kimball declined to comment.

It's a sad final chapter for a company that has been in business for more than a quarter-century and was on the cutting edge of security.

Texas Armoring was founded by Trent Kimball's father, Ronald Kimball, a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent who worked in Latin America and "learned firsthand how armored vehicles can save lives," according to its website.

After Trent Kimball took the reins, he starred in the YouTube video, exiting the shot-up Mercedes-Benz unscathed to stare directly at the camera and recite the company's motto: "Life is valuable — protect it."

Over the years, Texas Armoring fortified Cadillacs, Lincolns, Lexuses, Mercedes and BMWs. It even retrofitted a Toyota Tundra pickup truck, which could dump tacks on the road to stop pursuers, create a smoke screen in the back, and zap would-be intruders with electrified door handles.

"We call it the James Bond package," Trent Kimball said in a 2007 interview.

Texas Amoring's revenue had declined leading up to the bankruptcy. It reported revenue of about $1.6 million in 2020 and $1.1 million in 2021.

Litigation also dogged the company during that time.

The government of Puerto Rico sued in 2021, saying it didn't receive a Chevrolet Suburban intended for use by its governor. Puerto Rico submitted a $55,000 claim in the bankruptcy.

In 2020, Qatar's consulate general alleged it didn't receive a 2019 Lexus LX570 SUV that was for its ambassador in Venezuela. The company denied the allegations. Proceedings in the case abruptly ceased in early 2021.

A Nigerian doctor who paid about $387,000 for two armored Mercedes-Benz vehicles won more $190,000 in damages in 2017 after a San Antonio jury found Texas Armoring engaged in false, misleading or deceptive acts. The company listed the doctor as a creditor in bankruptcy court documents, owed $39,000, an amount it denoted as disputed.

Among Texas Armoring's other notable clients were Goya Foods of Texas and the founder of Hawaiian Tropic suntan lotion.

Hawaiian Tropic owner Ronald Rice wanted Texas Armoring to modify his 2020 GMC Yukon Denali, but he never took delivery of the full-size luxury SUV. He died at the age of 81 on May 19, 2022.

Rice's estate demanded the return of the vehicle, saying in an August court filing that Texas Armoring had "not held up its end of the bargain."

Parker, the bankruptcy judge, denied the request in October after Kimball testified his company would continue efforts to complete the vehicle and attempt to find a buyer for it.

In early 2021, Goya contracted to have a $130,00 2021 Cadillac Escalade armored and paid $38,250 deposit. The retrofit was supposed to be finished by last spring, but the work was never completed, Goya said in a September court filing asking for the vehicle's return.

Goya later obtained an agreed court order allowing it to recover the Escalade.

Ultimately, Texas Armoring couldn't fend of its creditors. It listed assets of $519,320 and liabilities of $845,235 in a bankruptcy court filing — meaning it had a negative net worth of nearly $326,000.

Meanwhile, almost 20 creditors submitted claims approaching $4 million.

The largest claim was submitted by a joint venture that Texas Armoring had invested in with Victory Business Solutions in 2018. They partnered to open a facility in Honduras to produce armored vehicles.

The joint venture, TAC Americas Ltd., filed a nearly $2.2 million breach of contract claim in Texas Armoring's bankruptcy, though no other details were offered.

Victory Business Solutions submitted the second largest claim — $765,000 — related to a loan it made to Texas Armoring, the filing showed.

Mark Caldwell, a Victory owner, did not respond to a request for comment. TAC Americas continues to operate.

The largest creditor listed in bankruptcy papers was San Antonio's Broadway Bank, but its claim was fully secured by a nearly $368,600 certificate of deposit at the bank.

All other creditors were listed as unsecured.

Texas Armoring's assets included about $130,000 in machinery, equipment and vehicles. It already has sold a "paint booth" and "shop equipment" for small amounts.

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