Rick Hodge, a Wichita, Kan.-based bankruptcy attorney, renounced his plans to purchase majority assets of Complete Landscaping Systems, also based in Wichita, because the company failed to produce a title free of lien or levy from creditors.
At the beginning of September—and on the heels of several lawsuits against Complete—Hodge reportedly was planning to buy 90 percent of the assets of Complete to revive his own landscaping company Yard Concerns.
“My interest was to establish and rebuild some of the accounts and relationships,” Hodge said of the prospective purchase. “Predominately, it was to keep folks employed.”
Complete was purchased by Laura McMurray four years ago. She grew it from $1.2 million to $13 million and, in an effort to save money, shared an office space with Michael Ackerman, owner of Michael’s Complete Lawn Care. That business relationship fostered into an engagement between the duo, Landscape Management reported in its June issue.
In an email, McMurray said the announcement of Hodge’s purchase was “premature.”
“The company continues to operate and will not be pursuing a sale to Mr. Hodge at this time,” she said. “We look forward to providing our customers with ongoing landscaping services for the foreseeable future.”
For more on this story, visit the Wichita Business Journal.
Updated 9/30/13.
