Judge approves liquidation for First Place Financial Corp.

Judge approves liquidation for First Place Financial Corp.

A U.S. bankruptcy judge in Delaware has approved the former holding company of First Place Bank to go forward with liquidation.

Warren-based First Place Financial Corp., which sold its primary asset, First Place Bank, to Talmer Bancorp in October after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection had asked the federal bankruptcy court to convert its Chapter 11 case into a Chapter 7 liquidation earlier this month.

Talmer, which now operates First Place, agreed to purchase all the bank’s stock for $45 million in addition to $15 million, payable by 2033 to First Place bondholders.

With the sale of its primary asset complete, FPFC in a court filing earlier this month said it had few remaining assets to continue to fund operations as a debtor in Chapter 11.

Now, as it begins to dissolve business operations completely, FPFC will be required to turn over all records and property, file a schedule of unpaid debts and file a final report among other things.