AMS Wants B&T To Pay Up

By Carmen 

Thought there still wouldn’t be news about AMS, its bankruptcy, and resulting fallout? Think again. PW Daily’s Jim Milliot reported yesterday that Advanced Marketing Services filed a motion last week asking the judge who’s overseeing the company’s bankruptcy to force Baker & Taylor to pay AMS $6.2 million that AMS alleges B&T wrongly withheld when it made its final payment to acquire the majority of the bankrupt distributor’s assets. According to the motion, when the final installment came due in May, B&T paid $4.1 million rather than the $10.3 million that AMS had been expecting.

The decision to not pay the full amount, AMS said, is based on B&T’s “unfounded and patently erroneous interpretations” of the Asset Purchase Agreement. B&T alerted AMS that it was withholding the $6.2 million in an April letter from B&T CEO Richard Willis, and AMS said that its attempts to resolve the dispute since then have proved fruitless, prompting it to file the motion. AMS believes Judge Christopher Sontchi has it within his authority to decide the issue without any need for further discovery or an evidentiary hearing. The motion is set to be heard August 15 and objections can be filed by August 8.