Wayne County officials said Wednesday that Sugar Creek Packing Co., a food manufacturer headquartered in Washington Court House, 30 miles south east of Dayton, Ohio, purchased the former Really Cool Foods plant and property during a bankruptcy auction in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana in Indianapolis Wednesday.

Sugar Creek Packing Co. was the lone bidder and bid $13 million for the former Really Cool Foods property, Wayne County attorney Ron Cross told the joint meeting of the Wayne County Council and Commissioners Wednesday.

The auction never really happened, said Cross, since there were no other bidders and Sugar Creek has been in negotiations to buy the property for nine months.

A hearing has been set for Tuesday in bankruptcy court to confirm the sale, Cross said, giving creditors a chance to object to the sale.

Sugar Creek Packing has five facilities in Ohio and Kansas and provides a wide assortment of raw and fully cooked products for domestic and international customers.

According to the company’s Website, Sugar Creek Packing Co. began in 1966 as a raw bacon manufacturer in Washington Court House and has been led by various members of the Richardson family since its inception. Its other locations besides the Washington Court House headquarters are two in Dayton, Ohio; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Frontenac, Kansas.

The company has grown from 25 employees to 1,500.

Cross said officials from the Economic Development Corporation of Wayne County have been working with Sugar Creek for months on the sale.

“It certainly is an opportunity for Wayne County,” Cross said. “But what specifically they plan to do there I have no idea. But my understanding is they planning to take over the plant to operate it.”

Council officials said they knew little of the deal, but still were thrilled.

“It’s great news,” said county councilman Tony Gillam following Wednesday’s meeting. “They are a large meat packing company and certainly appear to be a much stronger, more secure company than Really Cool Foods.”

“I’m just excited to see something coming in there. It’s great news for Wayne County,” said councilwoman Monica Burns.

Really Cool Foods built a state-of-the-art food processing facility in 2007 and opened its doors to much fanfare, promising a $100 million investment in the community and employment for 1,000 workers.

But the company was beset with problems from the start and employment numbers never rose above 240.

The company closed its doors suddenly in November 2011.

Since then local officials have been trying to arrange a sale.

“Yes, we’re very happy because there’s so much potential at the Really Cool Foods property,” said Wayne County Commissioner Denny Burns. “It’s exciting that it will be put to use.”

Attempts to reach a Sugar Creek Packing Co. spokesperson were unsuccessful Wednesday night.