A Michigan company says it has been appointed by US Bankruptcy Court to auction Evergreen Solar Inc.’s $425 million manufacturing plant in Devens and other assets.
Hilco Industrial said bids are due by Oct. 26 and the final auction will take place Nov. 1 for Evergreen’s plants in Midland, Mich., and Devens, a former military base in Central Massachusetts.
Evergreen filed for bankruptcy in August, crushed by debt, dwindling cash, and stiff competition from rivals in China.
It’s unclear how much of the proceeds will go to Massachusetts, which gave the Marlborough-based green energy firm $21 million in direct grants and millions more in tax incentives and other benefits to build the Massachusetts plant in exchange for a promise to add jobs. While the company initially kept its promise and ramped up employment quickly, it wound up shutting the plant and laying off more than 800 workers earlier this year.
State officials were in negotiations with the company to recoup a portion of the subsidies when Evergreen filed for federal bankruptcy protection. Massachusetts is just one of a half-dozen creditors listed in the court filings owed more than $1 million.
Kimberly Haberlin, a spokeswoman for the state’s economic development office, declined to comment yesterday.
