AM General has paid $3 million to acquire an U.S. Energy Department loan for a now-shuttered Vehicle Production Group (VPG) that made vans for the disabled.
In February, VPG suspended operations after its finances dipped below a minimum level required as a condition of the $50 million federal loan. The company had paid back $5 million earlier this year after it shut down and laid off 100 workers.
Sale of the loan means the government will lose about $42 million on its original investment. A DOE spokesman called the sale a last resort and said losses in a clean-energy loan program represent just 2% of the portfolio.
According to AM General, it will own and operate VPG through a subsidiary called Mobility Ventures LLC.
