Ryan Nichols, left, and Dylan Lucas own Eco Roof and Solar. (Courtesy Eco Roof and Solar)
A Denver-based roofing and solar company with offices across four states is bankrupt and being run by a receiver because its two 50/50 owners are at loggerheads.
Eco Roof and Solar was founded in 2007 by then-friends Dylan Lucas and Ryan Nichols. It operates at 389 S. Lipan St. in the Athmar Park neighborhood of Denver.
“The goal is to restructure and exit bankruptcy,” Lucas said, “and continue to be a member of the productive community here in Colorado, where we’ve been for 15 years.”
The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sept. 23, listing three reasons.
“The debtor expanded into new markets which resulted in increased capital requirements, the debtor has not been paid by key customers in the amount of approximately $3.5 million, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, due to supply chain issues, the debtor was required to buy inventory in bulk … and still has over $2 million in inventory,” Eco explained.
Eco has not fully enumerated its debts and assets but estimates having $1 million to $10 million in property and more than $10 million in debt. It also hasn’t listed all of the people and companies that it owes money to, but its top creditor is a lender in Denver: La Plata Capital.
La Plata sued Eco in late August for allegedly not repaying $6.6 million in loans and asked for a receiver to take over the company, 389 S. Lipan, and its properties in Florida and Louisiana. On Sept. 11, Michael Staheli of Cordes & Company was appointed as receiver.
Lucas and Nichols “have been deadlocked on major operational and capitalization issues,” La Plata claimed in its lawsuit. “As a result, Eco’s business has been failing.”
Lucas said the company, which employs 38 people, is continuing to operate. He said that morale has been high at Eco following an all-hands staff meeting last week.
“While there are financial components to this, this is more of a partnership dispute, a business divorce,” Lucas said. “So, essentially, through bankruptcy my goal is to emerge as the sole owner of Eco. My business partner and I were just not able to come to a resolution.”
Lucas sued Nichols in Denver District Court back in March but has never served Nichols the lawsuit, so Judge Andrew Luxen is threatening to throw out the case. In the lawsuit, Lucas claims the company is deadlocked and he should be allowed to buy out Nichols.
Geoff Long, the president of La Plata Capital, still believes that Eco can be successful.
“We are standing behind the management team and we’re collaborating with them and working in lockstep with them,” he said. “We think that they are going to find their way and come to a successful outcome. We are hopeful, optimistic and trying to see that through.”
“As the senior creditor here, we think there is a path forward to see the company out of Chapter 11 and into a successful next chapter,” Long added in a statement to BusinessDen.
Bankruptcy will place a pause on La Plata’s lawsuit, along with a few others in which the company is a defendant. A Texas supplier is suing Eco for over $75,000 in unpaid materials. In Louisiana, an employee and subcontractor claim that Eco has not paid them in full.
Ryan Nichols, left, and Dylan Lucas own Eco Roof and Solar. (Courtesy Eco Roof and Solar)
A Denver-based roofing and solar company with offices across four states is bankrupt and being run by a receiver because its two 50/50 owners are at loggerheads.
Eco Roof and Solar was founded in 2007 by then-friends Dylan Lucas and Ryan Nichols. It operates at 389 S. Lipan St. in the Athmar Park neighborhood of Denver.
“The goal is to restructure and exit bankruptcy,” Lucas said, “and continue to be a member of the productive community here in Colorado, where we’ve been for 15 years.”
The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sept. 23, listing three reasons.
“The debtor expanded into new markets which resulted in increased capital requirements, the debtor has not been paid by key customers in the amount of approximately $3.5 million, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, due to supply chain issues, the debtor was required to buy inventory in bulk … and still has over $2 million in inventory,” Eco explained.
Eco has not fully enumerated its debts and assets but estimates having $1 million to $10 million in property and more than $10 million in debt. It also hasn’t listed all of the people and companies that it owes money to, but its top creditor is a lender in Denver: La Plata Capital.
La Plata sued Eco in late August for allegedly not repaying $6.6 million in loans and asked for a receiver to take over the company, 389 S. Lipan, and its properties in Florida and Louisiana. On Sept. 11, Michael Staheli of Cordes & Company was appointed as receiver.
Lucas and Nichols “have been deadlocked on major operational and capitalization issues,” La Plata claimed in its lawsuit. “As a result, Eco’s business has been failing.”
Lucas said the company, which employs 38 people, is continuing to operate. He said that morale has been high at Eco following an all-hands staff meeting last week.
“While there are financial components to this, this is more of a partnership dispute, a business divorce,” Lucas said. “So, essentially, through bankruptcy my goal is to emerge as the sole owner of Eco. My business partner and I were just not able to come to a resolution.”
Lucas sued Nichols in Denver District Court back in March but has never served Nichols the lawsuit, so Judge Andrew Luxen is threatening to throw out the case. In the lawsuit, Lucas claims the company is deadlocked and he should be allowed to buy out Nichols.
Geoff Long, the president of La Plata Capital, still believes that Eco can be successful.
“We are standing behind the management team and we’re collaborating with them and working in lockstep with them,” he said. “We think that they are going to find their way and come to a successful outcome. We are hopeful, optimistic and trying to see that through.”
“As the senior creditor here, we think there is a path forward to see the company out of Chapter 11 and into a successful next chapter,” Long added in a statement to BusinessDen.
Bankruptcy will place a pause on La Plata’s lawsuit, along with a few others in which the company is a defendant. A Texas supplier is suing Eco for over $75,000 in unpaid materials. In Louisiana, an employee and subcontractor claim that Eco has not paid them in full.
