When Ballenger Construction Co., a well-known Texas contractor founded in 1937, sought protection from its creditors in federal bankruptcy court in Corpus Christi Dec. 7, equipment and material companies among the major creditors were left with millions of dollars in unpaid bills.
But while those companies may have been surprised by the bankruptcy, one company that probably wasn’t is Ballenger’s main surety, Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. It has been working with Ballenger since the summer first to try to sell the company and now to try to finish its bonded projects.