Mushroom meat alternative Meati, which got a new owner in October, has been evicted from its manufacturing facility in Thornton and had equipment and assets seized over unpaid taxes.
Notices on the door of the 115,000-square-foot facility at 14831 Washington St. indicate that the eviction took place weeks ago.
Signs also say the company owes $16 million in taxes: $9.2 million to Thornton for sales and use taxes and $6.7 million to Adams County for property taxes.
The eviction caps off a tumultuous year for Boulder-based Meati, which was founded in 2017 and raised $450 million in venture capital before selling for pennies on the dollar last year.
In early March, the company said an unspecified bank repossessed two-thirds of its cash, leading to then-CEO Phil Graves warning the company’s 150 employees that Meati was at risk of closing. That led to an assignment for the benefit of creditors, or ABC, a state-level process akin to bankruptcy, which began in May.
Out of that, Yasir Abdul, the man behind “As Seen on TV” marketing, purchased the company through the entity Meati Holdings. According to the bill of sale, which BusinessDen obtained through a public records request, Abdul paid $10,000 plus the debt owed to lender Trinity Capital Inc.
That figure sat at $13.5 million, according to court documents filed in May. According to the document, Abdul also assumed “existing and unpaid tax liens,” though it did not specify a number. Previous court filings said the purchase price was $4 million, though it is unclear where that figure comes from.
Although the deal didn’t close until the end of October, Abdul has been running day-to-day operations at Meati since mid-May, according to court filings.
Meati’s troubles with the property and local landlord Sagard Real Estate predate Abdul’s purchase.
In April 2024, Sagard sent Meati a notice of default letter saying the company owed $52,689 in rent. By March 2025, that number had ballooned to $232,738 as a result of more missed payments, court documents show.
Last May, Sagard sent a letter to Aaron Garber, the attorney assigned to manage the company through the ABC process, saying it would exercise its right to terminate the lease. The month after, it ordered Meati to vacate the plant by June 25. When that didn’t happen, Sagard took Meati to court, eventually leading to the eviction.
Abdul and Meati did not respond to a request for comment from BusinessDen.
It is unclear how the company plans to move forward without its lone manufacturing facility, which it leased in 2021 and opened for production in 2023. The property is being marketed for lease.
Michael Silva, the tax audit and compliance chief for Adams County, said the county just hired an auctioneer to take stock of Meati’s assets, which include manufacturing equipment and furniture. Those items will be up for bidding within 180 days, Silva said.
According to the bill of sale, Meati had $150 million in fixed assets as of April 29 – a list that includes some of the categories Silva mentioned.
A copy of Meati’s lease obtained by BusinessDen shows that the company initially paid $90,804 a month, or $9.50 a square foot, for the Thornton facility, with rent increasing 2.5% a year. The lease expired in 2032.
‘Mr. Abdul gave Meati Foods a lifeline, and with that comes change’
In the months leading up to the eviction and equipment seizure, Abdul had been making moves at Meati.
According to industry trade publication AgFunderNews, Abdul laid off members of Meati’s production team in the fall following weeks of payroll glitches.
In response to the reports, Abdul and Meati issued a news release Nov. 11 outlining his vision for the company. It was the first time he or the company made public statements since the ABC process started.
He said the layoffs were a result of the “strict financial discipline” he implemented after discovering previous ownership spent $6.7 million a month to keep Meati afloat. He added that several people had been hired by other companies in his portfolio.
“Mr. Abdul gave Meati Foods a lifeline, and with that comes change,” Renee Towell, Meati’s director of communications, said in the release.
She did not respond to a request for comment from BusinessDen.
“Not everyone will be happy,” she continued, “but (Abdul’s) corporate restructuring is solely based on keeping the company going and creating jobs.”
Abdul also said in the release that he had put $14.2 million into the company since assuming operations in May. He said Meati will extend its product line and is “preparing for a complete rebranding” this year. The release did not give any more specifics on what that will look like.
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