BANGOR (AP) – Irving Tanning Co. has agreed to cancel health insurance for its 225 employees to pave the way for the sale of the bankrupt company to an investment group that specializes in restructurings and turnarounds.

An attorney for Irving said its sale to Meriturn Partners LLC would not move forward without the cuts in benefits, forcing an immediate shutdown and liquidation of the Hartland tannery.

Meriturn’s president promised that the loss of health insurance would be only temporary.

“If the sale goes through, Meriturn Partners will reinstate all health plan benefits,” Franklin Staley said after a two-hour hearing Wednesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

With the loss of benefits scheduled to take effect Saturday, many workers were making arrangements to line up private or state-supported insurance on their own, officials said.

Irving’s mortgagee, TD Banknorth, forced the tannery to agree to cancel benefits to make way for the sale. As of March 30, the tannery owed the bank $11.5 million, which exceeds the value of Irving’s assets, said Michael Fagone, Irving’s attorney.

In addition to loss of benefits, workers were forced to take a 5 percent pay cut, while upper-level administrators took even deeper cuts in salary.