August 82000

Prime Succession Receives Final Financing

Approval

Prime Succession Inc. yesterday announced that the U.S. Bankruptcy

Court for the District of Delaware gave final approval for the

company's debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing, according to a

newswire report. Under the DIP financing agreement, the Erlanger,

Ky.-based company has obtained up to $10 million in financing

from a group of its current senior lenders. The company also announced

that a hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 21 to determine the

adequacy of its disclosure statement. The court has tentatively

scheduled Sept. 28 for the confirmation hearing regarding Prime

Succession's reorganization plan. Based on this schedule, the

company could expect to emerge from chapter 11 in mid-October.

Prime Succession is the fifth-largest provider of funeral and

cemetery products and services in the death care industry, on

the basis of revenues, in the United States.

Metrocall Moves to File Competing Plan in

PageNet Bankruptcy

Metrocall announced that on Aug. 4 it filed a motion requesting

that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware terminate

PageNet's exclusivity period to permit Metrocall to submit a competing

reorganization plan in the chapter 11 reorganization cases of

Paging Network Inc. and its operating subsidiaries, according

to a newswire report. Metrocall's motion contained a timetable

that demonstrates that a competing Metrocall plan could obtain

all regulatory approvals and be confirmed by the bankruptcy court

before the year's end. The company said it believes that it should

have the chance to conduct expedited due diligence for a period

of 10 business days and to propose a competing plan that is more

favorable to stakeholders than PageNet's proposed transaction

with Arch Communications. Metrocall further stated in its motion

that PageNet's board has a fiduciary obligation to its stakeholders

to allow competing bids, which would benefit all stakeholders,

and a fair auction is consistent with bankruptcy principles to

accept the highest and best offer. A hearing on Metrocall's motion

is currently set for Aug. 21. Metrocall, headquartered in Alexandria,

Va., is one of the largest wireless data and messaging companies

in the United States.

Mobile Energy Services Files Reorganization

Proposal

Mobile Energy Services Company LLC, its parent Mobile Energy Services

Holdings Inc. and a committee of secured bondholders yesterday

announced they have jointly filed a proposed reorganization plan

in bankruptcy court that would restructure Mobile Energy Services'

secured bond debt, according to a newswire report. The plan also

would allow for the development of a new pulp mill on the mill

site idled by Kimberly Clark Tissue Co. in September 1999. Mobile

Energy Services is the owner and operator of a facility that generates

electricity, produces steam and, until the shutdown of the pulp

mill, processed black liquor as part of a pulp and paper complex

in Mobile, Ala. Mobile Energy Services and Mobile Energy Services

Holdings Inc. filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January

1999. The proposed plan would restructure the existing secured

bond debt, with the consent of the bondholders, significantly

reducing Mobile Energy Services' long-term debt obligations. As

part of the plan filed Aug. 4, Mobile Energy Services would continue

to provide energy services to the Kimberly Clark Tissue Co. and

Sappi facilities at the site, as well as to the new pulp mill.

The new pulp mill would use Kimberly-Clark property and equipment.

Mobile Energy Services obtained the right to purchase the equipment

in return for market-priced steam and electricity and as part

of a settlement of claims the companies filed against each other.

San Fernando Valley Man Convicted in 'Advanced

Fee' Scam

Victor Leroy Taylor, a Granda Hills, Calif., man who ran a massive

scheme in which he defrauded hundreds of victims with poor credit

histories, was sentenced July 25 to 60 months in federal prison,

according to a Department of Justice report. Taylor, 36, was convicted

in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles of 16 counts of mail

fraud. He used three companies to perpetrate an 'advance-fee'

scheme that targeted people with recent bankruptcies. Using the

names Colonial Financial Services, First American Financial Services

and Fallbrook Financial Services, Taylor sent solicitations that

falsely told victims that his companies had special programs available

that could help them obtain credit cards despite their past credit

problems. In exchange for their money, the victims received only

the names and numbers of banks that Taylor had found at the library,

Internet or in his junk mail. Taylor made approximately $4.5 million

through the scheme.

Bid4Assets.com Selling Assets of Defunct Civiczone.com

Bid4Assets.com, an online marketplace for buying and selling high-value,

distressed assets, announced yesterday that it will auction the

remaining assets of Civiczone.com, which recently filed chapter

7 in the Northern District of Virginia, according to a newswire

release. The assets available for auction include domain names,

computer equipment, software, printers and office equipment. This

is believed to be the first time an Internet auction site will

be utilized to liquidate the assets of a failed Internet company.

'Bid4Assets.com came highly recommended from members of the bankruptcy

community for its ability to sell assets quickly, its understanding

of the Internet and its ability to offer pre- to post-sale services,'

said Andria McClellan, CEO of Civiczone. Civiczone.com, an Alexandria,

Va.-based company, used wireless technology to connect local public

sector organizations to the community and to their constituents.

It attributes its failure to a lack of funding and poor market

timing as it tried to transition from a business-to-consumer-oriented

Web site to business-to-business.