|
Conseco Finance Withdraws Motion To Reject Housing Loans
Conseco Inc.'s Conseco Finance Corp. unit late on Wednesday withdrew an
emergency motion to reject $23 billion in money-losing loans the unit
services as part of a far-reaching settlement on several issues, Dow
Jones reported. Conseco Finance said in court documents that continued
squabbles over the mobile-home loan portfolios, which are owned by 68
separate trusts, were jeopardizing the unit's stability and threatening
its planned sale early next month. As part of the settlement, an earlier
interim order that increased the applicable servicing fees on the loans
to 1.25 percent per year from 0.5 percent per year will be kept in place
until a March 5 hearing, reported the newswire.
Xcel Unit Settles With Former Officials on Bankruptcy
Xcel Energy Inc., the owner of Minneapolis's electric utility, said its
insolvent NRG Energy unit settled with seven former executives who had
filed an involuntary chapter 11 bankruptcy petition against the
business, Bloomberg News reported. The settlement is subject to approval
from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Minnesota District, which
scheduled an April hearing to consider the petition, filed last year,
Xcel said in a statement, Bloomberg reported.
EOTT Set to Emerge from Chapter 11
EOTT Energy Partners LP, a U.S. pipeline operator, said it expects to
emerge from chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 1, after which the
partnership will have separated itself completely from Enron Corp.,
Bloomberg News reported. Most of EOTT's creditors and the U.S.
Bankruptcy Judge in Corpus Christi, Texas, have approved its
reorganization plan, which calls for final separation from the
once-largest energy trader, the partnership said in a PR Newswire
statement, Bloomberg reported.
PG&E to Issue Stock to Get Investment Rating for Utility's
Plan
PG&E Corp.'s Pacific Gas & Electric unit told a bankruptcy court
the parent company plans to issue as much as $700 million in new equity
to achieve investment grade ratings under a modified reorganization plan
for its bankrupt utility, Bloomberg News reported. Pacific Gas told U.S.
Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali that issuing the new equity would
strengthen its reorganization plan and help it achieve investment grade
ratings. Montali is presiding over a trial for rival restructuring plans
submitted by the utility and the California Public Utilities Commission,
Bloomberg reported.
Steelworkers Union Announces Pact Ratification
Union workers at Weirton Steel Corp. have approved a new one-year
contract that cuts their pay by 5 percent and freezes accrued pension
benefits at current levels to stop a $400 million liability from
becoming any larger, the Associated Press reported. Members of the
Independent Steelworkers Union voted to approve the contract, which also
cancels a $1 per hour wage increase that had been planned for April 1.
Combined, the changes are expected to save Weirton Steel an estimated
$38 million, reported the newswire. Company and union officials alike
have publicly acknowledged that Weirton Steel would be unlikely to
re-emerge if it filed for bankruptcy.
W.R. Grace Seeks Three-year Extension of $250 Million DIP
Loan
W.R. Grace & Co. has asked a bankruptcy court for permission to
extend its $250 million debtor-in-possession loan agreement for three
years, Dow Jones reported. The company, which supplies construction
chemicals and materials, said it needs to extend the agreement to deal
with liquidity contingencies, including probable large pension plan
contributions and possible settlements of environmental, tax and other
disputes, according to a court filing obtained Tuesday by Dow Jones
Newswires. Columbia, Md.-based W.R. Grace & Co. filed for chapter 11
protection in April 2001 following a sharp rise in claims resulting from
exposure to asbestos-containing products that the company sold
previously.
Court Converts Goldman Industrial's Case To Chapter 7
A bankruptcy court on Wednesday converted the chapter 11 bankruptcy case
of Goldman Industrial Group Inc. to a chapter 7 liquidation after the
company said it had lost its financing and ceased operations, Dow Jones
reported. The order signed by Judge Mary F. Walrath of the U.S.
Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., authorizes the appointment of a
chapter 7 trustee and signals the end of Goldman Industrial's existence.
The move comes almost a year to the day after the metal-working
machinery provider filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Panaco Inc. Gets More Time to Use Cash Collateral
Panaco Inc. received more time to use the cash collateral of a secured
creditor to pay operating expenses while its chapter 11 reorganization
plan is pending before the bankruptcy court, Dow Jones reported. Judge
Letitia Z. Clark of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston signed an order
last Thursday that extends the company's right to use Foothill Capital
Corp.'s cash collateral through April 24. Panaco, which owns stakes in
oil and gas wells in the Gulf of Mexico region, has operated under
chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from its creditors since last July.
Creditors at Odds in AppliedTheory Bankruptcy Case
Creditors of AppliedTheory Corp. are at an impasse over how the
company's bankruptcy case should proceed, Dow Jones reported.
AppliedTheory has been under chapter 11 protection since April 17, 2002,
in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, but the company's secured
creditors asked the court on Dec. 27 to convert the case to a chapter 7
liquidation. Unsecured creditors have objected to the request and a
hearing has been set for Tuesday in Manhattan, Dow Jones reported.
Tax Collectors Object to Kmart Plan Disclosure Statement
The city of Philadelphia and tax collectors from 42 counties in Florida
have objected to Kmart Corp.'s chapter 11 reorganization plan disclosure
statement, according to court papers Dow Jones Newswires obtained on
Wednesday. Philadelphia said the disclosure statement—which is
supposed to provide enough information about a company's proposed plan
to enable creditors to decide whether to accept it—describes a
plan that wouldn't fully pay the city's unsecured tax claim. U.S.
Bankruptcy Judge Susan Pierson Sonderby is scheduled to consider
the adequacy of the discount retailer's disclosure statement at a
hearing on Feb. 25, reported the newswire.
Cadiz Inc. Gets Loan Default Notice from ING Capital
Cadiz Inc. said it received a default notice and a demand for payment on
Thursday from ING Capital LLC, its credit line lender, Dow Jones
reported. ING Capital delivered the notice because Cadiz's Sun World
International Inc. unit failed to renew its revolving credit agreement
upon filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to a filing
on Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. ING Capital's
agreement to extend Cadiz's debt was conditional on Sun World renewing
its revolving credit agreement, reported the newswire.
Peregrine Systems Opposes Panel's Request to Hire Adviser
Peregrine Systems Inc. has opposed a request by its unsecured creditors'
committee to hire Blackstone Group L.P. as a restructuring consultant,
saying there is no need for the committee to hire the firm, Dow Jones
reported. The software company said the committee has 'apparently
already formulated its own plan of reorganization' for Peregrine
Systems, according to an objection obtained by Dow Jones Newswires.
Also, the filing said the committee already is using the services of FTI
Consulting Inc., which is more than qualified to provide restructuring
advice and already has done so. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington,
Del., which is overseeing Peregrine Systems's case, is set to consider
the proposed hiring at a hearing on Tuesday, according to Dow Jones.
UAL Seeks Court OK to Amend Terms of $300 Million Loan
UAL Corp., the parent company of United Airlines, is seeking a
bankruptcy court's approval to amend some terms of a $300 million loan
so that it doesn't breach terms of that pact, according to court
documents, Dow Jones reported. In a motion filed with the court on
Tuesday, UAL said that, under terms of its $300 million term loan with
Bank One N.A., none of its other DIP financing agreements may carry
higher interest rates than those under the $300 million loan, according
to the newswire. As a result, the company said it must amend rates under
the Bank One term loan pact because it has recently amended rates under
another loan agreement. The deadline to amend terms of the DIP loans
without further court approval was Jan. 23, according to the motion,
which was entered on the airline's docket Wednesday.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago, which is overseeing UAL's case,
will consider the company's motion at a hearing on Friday, Dow Jones
reported. UAL filed for bankruptcy protection on Dec. 9, listing total
assets of $84.3 million and total debts of $126.6 million as of Sept.
30. United Air Lines Inc. listed total assets of $22.73 billion and
debts of $21.48 billion as of the same date in its chapter 11
filing.
Allied Devices Files for Protection from Creditors
Hicksville, N.Y.-based Allied Devices Corp. filed for chapter 11
bankruptcy protection after talks broke down with its lenders, Dow Jones
reported. In a press release Wednesday, the company cited an 18-month
decline in sales volume as a reason for the filing, the newswire
reported. Until last week, the company and its banks had been
negotiating a restructuring of Allied's debt, and had come to an
agreement on all but one point. On Feb. 7, the two parties determined
that there is no practical way of coming to an agreement, Dow Jones
reported. Allied Devices makes components of mechanical assemblies used
in industrial and commercial equipment.
American Air: Talking with Unions on Cost Cutting
Don Carty, chairman and chief executive of American Airlines, said
management of the world's largest airline is in discussions with union
groups on how to cut costs, Dow Jones reported. American, a unit of AMR
Corp., has asked employees to make contract changes that would result in
$1.8 billion in annual savings for the financially troubled company.
Analysts have said the company must get costs down significantly this
year in order to avoid bankruptcy, reported the newswire. Steve
Blankenship, spokesman of the Allied Pilots Association union, said that
the unions are mulling the company's proposals. He said he thought it
likely that airlines would end up seeking financial assistance from
Washington, Dow Jones reported.
US Airways Seeks OK to Replace Pension Plan for Pilots
US Airways Group Inc. will seek court approval on Friday to replace the
pension plan for its pilots with another plan, a move supported by the
creditors' committee but opposed by the union representing the pilots,
Dow Jones reported. The company wants to replace the current defined
benefit pension plan with a defined contribution plan that would see
yearly pilot contributions of $850 million for more than 3,700 pilots
during the next seven years, reported the newswire.
Adelphia Business Gets Nod to Sell Detroit Market Assets
A bankruptcy court has authorized Adelphia Business Solutions Inc. to
sell some telecommunications assets the company had used in its Detroit
market, Dow Jones reported. Global Visions Communications LLC will pay
$2.5 million for the assets and assume certain contractual liabilities,
according to court papers filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in
Manhattan. Adelphia Business announced its intention to discontinue
operations in the Detroit metropolitan area several months ago, reported
the newswire.
Court Halts Litigation Against Combustion Engineering
Combustion Engineering Inc. on Tuesday won a temporary restraining order
to suspend all asbestos-related actions against the company, Dow Jones
reported. The temporary restraining order will last until Judge
Judith K. Fitzgerald of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington,
Del., considers a motion on a preliminary injunction on March 17, said
Laura Davis Jones, an attorney with Pachulski Stang Ziehl Young
Jones & Weintraub, the firm representing Combustion Engineering,
reported the newswire.
Thanks for visiting
Today's Bankruptcy Headlines. New articles are posted here
each business day.
|
