Stranded in China: Debt dispute leaves Missouri businessman in limbo
In January, Steve Fleischli left his home in Labadie for a business trip to Xiamen, China. Nearly five months later, he is still there, stuck.
Fleischli, the Washington, Mo.-based chief executive of tent-maker NorthPole Ltd., says he has had is passport confiscated by a Xiamen court after getting stuck in the middle of a dispute between his Chinese suppliers and the global private equity fund that owns NorthPole. Earlier this month, he filed a lawsuit in St. Louis County court, in a bid to return home.
Fleischli’s dilemma highlights a risk for western executives in China, especially when they are on the hook for debts they can’t pay. Up close, it’s also about a globe-hopping businessman, just trying to get home to his wife and 3-year-old girl.
Fleischli, 37, has been with NorthPole for 11 years, working out of its sales office in Washington and traveling frequently to plants in China and Bangladesh. The company is little-known outside the sporting goods industry but is one of the world’s biggest makers of tents, airbeds and those fold-up camping chairs found in backyards nationwide. It’s a major supplier to retail giants such as Wal-Mart, Target and Bass Pro Shops.
Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/stranded-in-china-debt-dispute-leaves-missouri-businessman-in-limbo/article_ad02e834-b71b-11e1-9b6a-0019bb30f31a.html#ixzz1y5nMLPst
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