Ocean Pacific Shell Unit Files for Liquidation : Bankruptcy: Officials say action by ‘dormant’ 1200 Valencia Corp. will have little effect on sun wear company, which has filed Chapter 11.

A “dormant” unit of Ocean Pacific Sunwear Ltd., the swimwear company that sought bankruptcy protection three weeks ago, filed Friday for liquidation.

That action by 1200 Valencia Corp., a shell corporation named after the former location of OP’s headquarters in Tustin, will have little effect on Ocean Pacific Sunwear and its financial reorganization, Mike Balmages, OP senior executive vice president, said Friday. But it could mean that creditors owed about $500,000 will not get paid, he said.

1200 Valencia Corp. was created in the late 1980s in an ill-fated attempt by OP to manufacture its own surf wear, rather than license its famous logos to other companies that would then pay royalties. The experiment failed, leaving the subsidiary with the balance of $8 million in bank loans--the cost of setting up the manufacturing operation in Tustin. Balmages said 1200 Valencia has some assets, but he would not elaborate.

Much of the money owed by 1200 Valencia is due to Republic Factors Corp. in Los Angeles, a secured creditor whose debt is backed by the parent OP Sunwear. But the $500,000 was owed to unsecured creditors.

The pending liquidation of the manufacturing division was announced last month when OP filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.