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Helix Wind of San Diego wants to purchase a bankrupt wind turbine distributor in Newberg and move part of its California operations to Oregon. But before the company can do that, it has to come up with $5 million and have its buyout plan approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Oregon.

Abundant Renewable Energy of Newberg filed for bankruptcy on March 26. Its principals have been paying out of their own pockets to keep the business afloat, according to Helix CEO Ian Gardner. Now the companies have reached a definitive purchase agreement for Helix to buy all of ARE’s assets for a price between $4 million and $6.5 million.

鈥淎ll focus so far has been on raising the capital,鈥� said Greg Price, ARE’s manager of sales and marketing. 鈥淗elix has to raise between $5 million and $6 million. There’s always a chance it won’t work out, but we have confidence they will be able to raise the money.鈥�

Helix has hired financial investment firm Dominick & Dominick of New York to pursue financing options for the purchase.

鈥淚t’s the right time in the marketplace for a deal like this,鈥� Gardner said. 鈥淲e have a good strategy. We can’t predict the future, but we are definitely hopeful.鈥�

Helix has submitted its reorganization plan, which includes using $345,000 to pay off some of the debt incurred by ARE’s principals, to Oregon’s bankruptcy court. No hearing date has been set for the proposal, but Price expects a deal to be struck by Nov. 1.

If the deal were to go through, Helix would move its research and development, engineering, and testing departments to a location between Newberg and Portland, and keep its corporate, finance and human resource departments in San Diego. The Newberg facility, which currently has nine employees, would remain in operation.

鈥淭here’s access to a good pool of talented engineers in Oregon,鈥� Gardner said. 鈥淚t’s less crowded. Fresh water and other natural resources are more abundant. I think Oregon is more supportive of renewable energy, and psychologically, that will have an effect on our overall success there.鈥�

Gardner said Helix would move some of its employees from San Diego to Oregon, as well as hire new staff locally, meaning more jobs for a state with an unemployment rate hovering around 11.7 percent.

Helix’s business focuses on the design, manufacturing and sale of small-scale wind turbines for homes and businesses, including a unique vertical-axis wind turbine shaped like a compact fluorescent light bulb. ARE manufactures and installs traditional horizontal-axis turbines, which would give Helix a new range of products should the sale go through.

鈥淲ith the sale, we would definitely have greater market capital and resources,鈥� Price said. 鈥淲e’d be able to spend more time and more effort on product development, which is the core of what we do.鈥�