href='mailto:Headlines@abiworld.org?subject=Subscribe me to the ABI
Headlines Direct'>
src='http://www.abiworld.org/AM/Images/headlines/headline.gif'>
November 21,
2006
name='1'>Jeweler Fabrikant Files for Bankruptcy
Jewler M. Fabrikant &
Sons Inc. has filed for chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy
Court in
face='Times New Roman'
size='3'>Manhattan
Jones Newswires reported yesterday. The privately owned company, which
also placed its domestic unit Fabrikant-Leer International into chapter
11, listed assets of $225.9 million and debts of $363 million in its
bankruptcy petition filed Friday. Fabrikant owes $161.9 million to its
bank lenders, according to court papers. The company said it owes $36
million to other creditors and $124 million to its non-bankrupt
subsidiaries, including Fabrikant-Tara International, a joint venture
with
face='Times New Roman'
size='3'>India
Tara Group. The joint venture isn't under chapter 11 protection.
href='http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061120/fabrikant_bankruptcy.html?.v=1&printer=1'>Read
more .
SEC
to Undergo Further Scrutiny from Congress
The Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC), already under fire for its handling of a
suspected insider-trading case, will receive more congressional scrutiny
next month when the Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on the
agency's effectiveness, the
size='3'>Wall Street Journal reported today.
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) has scheduled an oversight hearing on the SEC
for Dec. 5. The hearing comes as the SEC has been on the defensive since
Sen. Specter and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said they were
investigating the agency's handling of an insider-trading investigation
involving hedge fund Pequot Capital Management and John Mack, the chief
executive of Morgan Stanley. The matter, which was brought to their
attention by a former SEC attorney, was referred to the Government
Accountability Office for a thorough review of the SEC's enforcement
division.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116407252419029007.html?mod=us_business_whats_news'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
Airlines
Airways Begins Building Delta Creditor Coalition
Less than a week after
proposing a takeover of rival carrier Delta Airlines Inc., US Airways
has begun lobbying the airline’s creditors, hoping to garner
enough support to push the $8 billion merger through,
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Bankruptcy Law360
size='3'>reported yesterday.
w:st='on'>
size='3'>US
size='3'>Airways has focused its efforts on bondholders and creditors
not represented by the official creditors’ committee, hoping to
convince them to support the hostile takeover bid. Of the various third
parties involved in Delta’s chapter 11 proceedings, the
bondholders are most likely to align themselves with US Airways.
Although their claims only represent about 30 percent of the total
creditor claims, bondholders have the most to gain from a merger. The
value of bondholder claims has already increased since US Airways
revealed the takeover bid last week.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=13834'>Read
more . (Registration required.)
In related news,
Southwest Airlines Chief Executive Gary Kelly said he would be 'very
interested' in acquiring assets sold by US Airways Group Inc. or Delta
Air Lines if the companies were to merge, potentially intensifying the
bidding over coveted East Coast routes, the Wall Street Journal reported
today. US Airways previously said it would likely have to sell off some
assets to quell antitrust concerns if its $8.7 billion hostile
cash-and-stock bid for Delta succeeds. US Airways CEO Doug Parker said
East Coast concerns could be addressed by selling one of the companies'
overlapping Eastern shuttle services, which connect
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Boston
w:st='on'>New
York
Atlanta-based Delta has said it wants to emerge from bankruptcy court
protection as a standalone carrier, and it is far from clear whether US
Airways will succeed in its takeover bid.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116406637902428854.html?mod=home_whats_news_us'>Read
more . (Registration required.)
name='4'>Delta Recalling Maintenance Staff
Delta Air Lines Inc., facing a
hostile buyout bid by a smaller rival and seeking to emerge from
bankruptcy as a standalone carrier, said that it is recalling 700
furloughed maintenance employees, the Associated Press reported
yesterday. The decision comes less than a year after the Atlanta-based
airline said it would cut up to 1,000 maintenance jobs as part of a
previously announced work force reduction plan. Tony Charaf, Delta's
senior vice president of technical operations, told employees in a memo
that the recall was made possible by the carrier's ability to become
more competitive and grow its business profitably in recent months at a
rate beyond its expectations. Delta currently has 1,295 maintenance
employees on furlough, spokeswoman Betsy Talton said. She said the
recalled workers will support more international flying in 2007 and
perform other maintenance jobs.
href='http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061120/delta_maintenance.html?.v=1'>Read
more .
name='5'>Northwest Airlines Hiring 200 Workers
Northwest Airlines Corp., which
is operating under bankruptcy protection, announced yesterday that it
would hire 200 ground workers to handle baggage, de-ice planes and push
aircraft, among other tasks, the Associated Press reported yesterday.The
company said it needed to hire additional groundworkers due to attrition
and some mild growth in operations. The jobs, some part-time and some
full-time, pay $9 an hour, or a base salary of $18,720 for full-time
workers for the first year.
href='http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061120/northwest_hiring.html?.v=1'>Read
more .
Automotive
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>
name='6'>Delphi
Agreement
Bankrupt auto parts maker
Delphi Corp. and the labor unions that represent its workers will get
more time to reach an agreement that would save
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Delphi
its collective bargaining agreements,
size='3'>Bankruptcy Law360 reported yesterday.
Bankruptcy Judge Robert
Drain pushed back the deadline two months to
Jan. 31. Lauren Asplen, a spokesperson for the IUE-CWA—the
industrial division of the Communications Workers of America—said
that the union remained hopeful that an agreement could be reached with
the Troy, Mich.-based company.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=13818'>Read
more . (Registration required.)
Dura
Automotive Receives Court Approval to Access DIP
Financing
Dura Automotive Systems, Inc.
said that it received approval for the $300 million debtor-in-possession
(DIP) financing it arranged from Goldman Sachs, GE Capital and Barclays,
according to a company press release. As part of the company's first-day
motions granted on Oct. 31, Dura received approval to access $50 million
of its approximately $300 million in DIP financing. The approval
yesterday by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware
allows the company full access to the DIP financing.
href='http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/061120/20061120006102.html?.v=1&printer=1'>Read
more .
name='8'>Bank of
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>America
Is Acquiring
w:st='on'>
size='3'>U.S.
size='3'>Trust
The Charles Schwab
Corporation said that it was selling U.S. Trust, the wealth-management
specialist, to the Bank of America Corporation for $3.3 billion in cash,
the Associated Press reported yesterday.
size='3'> The deal, expected to be completed
next spring, continues an expansion that has solidified Bank of
America’s position as the nation’s second-largest financial
services firm behind Citigroup. Since 2003, Bank of America has spent
about $82 billion to buy the FleetBoston Financial Corporation and the
credit card issuer, the MBNA Corporation.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/21/business/21bank.html?pagewanted=print'>Read
more.
International
name='9'>Temporary Protection Extended for
Parmalat
Italian dairy company
Parmalat SpA said Monday that its temporary protection against actions
by creditors accorded to the group under
w:st='on'>
size='3'>U.S.
size='3'>bankruptcy law has been extended until Jan. 25, the Associated
Press reported yesterday. The dairy company's collapse was
size='3'>Europe
failure. In June, the lead plaintiffs in a consolidated shareholder
lawsuit stemming from Parmalat's collapse filed a motion to add the
reorganized company as a defendant. Parmalat CEO Enrico Bondi and
shareholders have separately filed lawsuits in
size='3'>Italy
the
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>United
States
recover damages from Parmalat's auditors and bankers, whom they claim
were complicit in the accounting fraud. The
w:st='on'>
size='3'>U.S.
size='3'>cases are set to go to trial next year.
href='http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061120/italy_parmalat.html?.v=1'>Read
more.
name='10'>Credit Managers Daily Business News
Report
The following articles
are taken from the Daily Summary of Troubled & Fast Growing U.S.
Companies published by Bastien Financial Publications.
For more of the latest business news visit
http://dailybusiness.creditmanagers.biz. 
ABI Members receive a 50
percent discount when subscribing to the complete Daily Summary. Enter
“ABI Member” in the comments section when you fill out the
subscriber form.
size='3'>Bally Total Fitness Holdings Corp.,
the Chicago, Ill.-based operator of health clubs, reported a third
quarter net loss of $5.7 million, including an operating loss of $5.7
million. Revenue was flat at $248 million.
The results included a $2.2 million gain on the sale of property and a
nearly $3 million asset-impairment charge.
size='3'>CGI Group Inc., a
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Montreal
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Quebec
of technology consulting services, reported a fiscal net loss of $132
million, including an operating loss of $132 million. Revenue was down
nearly 6%--to $3.1 billion. The year's results included charges of $51.1
million related to restructuring and the sale of
assets.
Fresh Del Monte
(
size='3'>Hawaii
Inc., which is ceasing its Hawaiian production
operations, said that the move is well in advance of earlier plans to
phase out that business in 2008. The
streamlining will result in the loss of 550 jobs.
size='3'>The firm's parent company, Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc.
of
size='3'>Coral Gables, Fl.,
said it will suspend a dividend in the third quarter in order to speed
up its return to profitability.
size='3'>Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc.,
size='3'>Redmond
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Wash.
third quarter net loss of $198 million. Its
operating loss of $198 million included an asset impairment of nearly
$118 million. Sales slipped 3%--to $211
million.
size='3'>Ford Motor Co.,
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Dearborn
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Mich.
an informal request from the Securities and Exchange Commission
regarding the carmaker's recent earnings restatements stemming from
accounting errors.
size='3'>Suburban Propane Partners LP,
size='3'>Whippany
w:st='on'>
size='3'>N.J.
fourth quarter net loss of $20.1 million. Revenue declined 1%--to $279
million. For the year, it lost $88.1 million, including an operating
loss of $88.1 million. Revenue rose less
than 3%--to nearly $1.7 billion. The quarter and year included
restructuring and pension-related charges of $6.1 million and more than
$10 million respectively.
size='3'>Suntron Corp., a
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Phoenix
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Ariz.
electronics-manufacturing services, reported a third quarter net loss of
$3.7 million. Revenue declined 12%--to $70.6
million.
size='3'>Visteon Corp., the
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Dearborn
w:st='on'>Mich.
automotive supplier, is reportedly in exclusive
negotiations to sell certain operations in Europe and South America to
GKN PLC, a British maker of aerospace and automotive parts, as part of
the
size='3'>company's earlier announced plans to streamline by selling or
closing some of its noncore and weakly performing assets.
The businesses under discussion have annual revenue of
around $387 million.