Buyer Is Lined Up for Troubled Nutri-System : Acquisitions: Purchase agreement by Heico comes only hours after a bankruptcy trustee is appointed.

A Chicago firm that invests in distressed companies agreed on Friday to buy debt-ridden Nutri-System Inc., bringing closer to resolution a financial crisis that forced the closing of 282 company-owned weight-loss centers last week.

John Gough, an attorney for Nutri-System franchisees, identified the buyer as Heico Acquisitions. A representative of Heico could not be reached.

The agreement came hours after a court-appointed bankruptcy trustee took control of the troubled company, a situation that complicates completion of the sale. Gough said his clients were trying to reach U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Scholl in Philadelphia to ask him to rescind appointment of the trustee so the sale can go through.

“We’ve sent faxes to his chambers and to his home, but he isn’t there,” Gough said. “We are confident that he will approve our request once he gets it.”

Nutri-System Inc. was thrown into corporate chaos last week when a consortium of seven banks seized the company’s cash. The move forced the immediate shutdown of the company, including the warehouse where diet program foods are stored.

Owners of Nutri-System’s 857 franchisees earlier this week threw the company into involuntary bankruptcy, seeking appointment of a trustee to take control of the company and resume shipments of special prepackaged meals sold to dieters. Gough said many franchisees were low on food and some had run out.

At the same time, competitors such as Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers were aggressively attempting to lure Nutri-System customers with special deals.

On Friday, Nutri-System Canada sued Jenny Craig over its advertising.

Gough said that Friday’s events meant that food would soon start flowing again to Nutri-System franchisees.

Gough said that terms of the sale to Heico Acquisitions were still being negotiated on Friday. He said he did not know the purchase price.

However, the Associated Press reported that Heico owner Michael Heisley had previously offered $5 million for Nutri-System’s bank debt and its stock. He reportedly said that he expected to invest heavily in the company to get it going again.

Franchisees have said the company owes its banks more than $40 million.

It could not be learned whether Heisley, who also controls steel-wire maker Davis Wire of Irwindale, intends to reopen the company-owned centers, including 40 in the Los Angeles area.

Nutri-System’s problems have been blamed in part on overexpansion in many cities, which in effect put Nutri-System centers in competition with each other.