Orleans CEO to leave under deal
Jeffrey P. Orleans, grandson of a Russian immigrant who began building houses in Philadelphia 92 years ago and founded a company that built more than 75,000 homes here and elsewhere, has agreed to leave the bankrupt Orleans Homebuilders in exchange for a payment of $700,000, the Bensalem company said Tuesday.
Jeffrey P. Orleans, grandson of a Russian immigrant who began building houses in Philadelphia 92 years ago and founded a company that built more than 75,000 homes here and elsewhere, has agreed to leave the bankrupt Orleans Homebuilders in exchange for a payment of $700,000, the Bensalem company said Tuesday.
If approved after a Nov. 8 hearing, the deal would clear the way for the company to emerge from bankruptcy under the control of its senior lenders and without an Orleans family member in charge.
Orleans Homebuilders filed for bankruptcy court protection March 1 after acknowledging that it was in default on loans to 17 senior lenders. At the time, the company said it owed those lenders about $375 million, and had net debts totaling more than $400 million.
The agreement with CEO Jeffrey Orleans, outlined in an Oct. 14 court filing, would settle all outstanding disputes and end his employment by Orleans, a publicly traded company that traces its roots to his grandfather, Alfred P. Orleans, who began as a homebuilder in 1918 at Front and Rockland Streets.
"The contributions Jeffrey Orleans has made to the Company over the years are immeasurable," Mitchell B. Arden, Orleans' chief restructuring officer, said in a statement. Arden said the company and Orleans agreed "that it is the right time to clear the way for their respective future plans." Jeffrey Orleans could not be reached for comment.
The agreement says Orleans, 64, had claims for unpaid vacation, salary, deferred compensation, and incentive payments that could total more than $1.6 million. In addition to waiving those claims and giving up his rights to the "Orleans" trademark and other intellectual property, Orleans agreed to a lump-sum payment of $700,000.
The agreement doesn't totally bar Orleans from using his family name. Within two years, he will be able to use more than 45 variations such as "J.P. Orleans Construction" or "A.P. Orleans Development." But neither "J.P. Orleans Homebuilders" nor "A.P. Orleans Homebuilders" is on the approved lists.