By Dawn McCarty - 2012-06-14T22:04:00Z

Northstar Aerospace (USA) Inc., a maker of aircraft gear and transmission assemblies, filed for bankruptcy protection to facilitate a sale.

The Belford Park, Illinois-based company listed assets of as much as $50,000 and debt of as much as $100 million in Chapter 11 documents filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware. Affiliates including Northstar Aerospace (Chicago), D-Velco Manufacturing of Arizona and Derlan USA also sought court protection.

Northstar Aerospace (Canada) Inc. and certain of its Canadian subsidiaries applied today for an initial order from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial Division) under the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act, according to a statement.

The main purpose of the filings is to effectuate a going concern sale of the business, Northstar said in the statement.

Derlan Industries, formed in 1984, changed its name to Northstar Aerospace in 2002. The company has worked with Rolls- Royce, Sikorski, Bell Helicopter-Textron, Agusta, Boeing and General Electric.

The company has an agreement with Wynnchurch Capital Ltd. affiliates, Heligear Acquisition Co. and Heligear Canada Acquisition Corp., to act as the stalking-horse, or lead bidder, to buy substantially all its assets for about $70 million plus certain assumed debt, according to court papers.

Northstar arranged a $22 million loan from their existing lenders in addition to a $7 million junior loan from Boeing Capital Loan Corp. to help fund operations while in bankruptcy, according to court papers. The company said its business wont be interrupted and obligations to customers and workers will be fulfilled.

The companies had consolidated assets with a book value of about $165.1 million as of March 31 and consolidated debt of about $147.1 million during the same time period, according to court papers. About 60 percent of the assets and business are with the U.S. debtors, according to court filings.

The case is In re Northstar Aerospace (USA) Inc., 12-11817, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington).

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Northstar Aerospace (USA) Files Bankruptcy in Delaware