Heatworks

Heatworks Technologies, Inc., a pioneer in the field of liquid heating technologies, was approaching an inflection point due to capital constraints. The company’s state court receiver, Aurora Management Partners, retained Hilco Streambank to conduct a sale of Heatworks’ intangible and related tangible assets, including a portfolio of more than 91 internationally registered utility and design patents, trademarks, CAD and other design files, product prototypes, test data, and certain tangible assets including finished and unfinished goods.

Heatworks developed and patented “Ohmic Array Technology” that utilizes strategically placed graphite electrodes and electronic controls to pass controlled electric currents through any surrounding conductive liquid, utilizing the liquid itself as the electrical resistor. The process converts electrical energy into thermal energy, nearly instantaneously raising the temperature of the liquid to within +/- 1°F of the desired temperature. The graphite electrodes do not retain heat and therefore resist mineral scaling. This technology was an incredible improvement in the field, which traditionally relies on the direct immersion of a metallic heating element into a water tank, which slowly heats surrounding liquids, is imprecise and inefficient, and which leads to rapid mineral scaling and rapid depletion of the useful life of the heating element.

Throughout an approximately 10-week marketing process, Hilco Streambank contacted more than 300 potential targets and brought 16 of those parties to the table through advanced discussions and negotiations. The process culminated in a public auction, and a sale closed in December, 2022.