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September 14,
2007
Kara
Homes Reorganization Plan Approved
Bankruptcy Judge Michael B.
Kaplan confirmed the reorganization plan of Kara Homes Inc.,
enabling the once-leading builder to exit chapter 11 protection as a
smaller company controlled by a Connecticut hedge fund and a New Jersey
developer, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The judge also
confirmed a supplemental plan giving control of a Kara development in
Mount Arlington, N.J., to WCP Real Estate Strategies Fund. The main
proposal calls for a partnership between hedge fund Plainfield Specialty
Holdings II, developer Glen Fishman and San Diego buyout firm Del Mar
Capital to invest about $12 million in a restructured Kara Homes. Of
that investment, about $2.25 million is set aside for the builder's
unsecured creditors. They will also share in the recoveries from any
lawsuits filed on their behalf by a liquidation trust.
href='http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/5133171.html'>Read
more.
UAW
Said to Pick GM for Contract Negotiations
The United Automobile Workers
union has chosen General Motors as its lead company in negotiations on
contracts that are set to expire at midnight on Friday, the New York
Times reported today. The choice may signal the union's
willingness to negotiate on a health care trust, the major demand by GM,
the Ford Motor Company and Chrysler. The union would administer the
trust, which would be financed by contributions of cash, stock and
possibly real estate from the car companies, allowing them to take the
obligation off their books. GM has pushed the most heavily for such a
trust because it faces a health care liability of about $55 billion for
its workers, retirees and their families.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/14/business/14auto.html?ref=business&pagewanted=print'>Read
more.
name='3'>Greenspan Backs Bernanke's Response to Credit
Crisis
Former Fed Chairman Alan
Greenspan disputed that he would have responded to the recent market
turmoil as quickly as he did earlier this decade and praised current Fed
Chairman Ben Bernanke's response to the current situation, according to
the CBS program '60 Minutes' set to air on Sunday. 'We were dealing in
an environment back then where inflation was easing,' Greenspan said.
'We could have acted without the fear of stoking inflationary
pressures.' Greenspan said that while he knew about the questionable
subprime lending tactics, he 'had no notion of how significant they had
become until very late.' He disagrees with those, including some former
Fed officials, who say the Fed was wrong to lower rates as much as it
did earlier this decade. 'It was our job to unfreeze the American
banking system if we wanted the economy to function. This required that
we keep rates modestly low.' Read more. (Registration required.)
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118969882172426429.html?mod=us_business_whats_news'>Read
more.
name='4'>Commentary: Congress Should Reform Unemployment
Compensation Program
Congress should reform the
ailing unemployment compensation program if the job market weakens
further and more Americans may need to turn to it, according to an
editorial in today's New York Times. Both the House and
Senate are now considering bills that would allocate $7 billion over
five years to states that enact sensible and needed reforms to their
programs. The money would come from extending a surtax on employers that
expires this year and accounts for about $14 of the per-person federal
unemployment tax. Extending the surtax is so uncontroversial that even
President Bush's latest budget assumes it will happen. Attaching strings
to the money is important because in the past, states have used federal
unemployment funds primarily to lower employers' taxes, not to broaden
coverage. The most important provision in Congress' bills calls on
states to update a rule that denies compensation to some 300,000
low-wage workers. When today's system was adopted 30 years ago, the
states devised eligibility formulas based on a person's previous
earnings and hours worked. Today, 31 states still omit the most recent
data, which often disqualifies low-income people from receiving benefits
because without that information they are not deemed to have worked
enough to qualify.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/14/opinion/14fri2.html?_r=1&oref=login'>Read
more.
Eagle May Still Acquire Le-Nature
A bankruptcy trustee asked a
judge to approve the sale of a bottling plant to Giant Eagle Inc., less
than two weeks after the judge ruled the supermarket chain intimidated a
competitor into dropping out of the sale, the Associated Press reported
yesterday. Under a settlement reached Monday and detailed in a court
filing Wednesday, Cadbury Schweppes Beverage Group will complete its $19
million purchase of the Le-Nature's plant and then resell it to Giant
Eagle for $19 million. Bankruptcy Judge M. Bruce
McCullough on Aug. 30 ruled that Giant Eagle acted in bad faith
in its bid to buy the closed Latrobe plant for $20 million. He awarded
the sale to the competitor, the beverage arm of U.K.-based Cadbury
Schweppes PLC. Under the settlement, Giant Eagle denies wrongdoing, but
will still forfeit its $2 million deposit, as previously ordered by the
judge. It also will pay bankruptcy trustee R. Todd Neilson another $2.25
million that will be used to repay Le-Nature's creditors.
Gallery to Miss Interest Payments
Movie Gallery Inc. said
yesterday it will not make timely interest payments on certain debt and
likely face default notices from lenders, as the nation's second-largest
video rental chain teeters on the verge of bankruptcy, the Associated
Press reported yesterday. Movie Gallery, which is struggling to fend off
online competitors, said in a regulatory filing that it does not think
it is in default because the tardy payments are covered by forbearance
notices it agreed to with certain lenders. The company said in July it
was considering various strategic options, including a possible sale of
the company. It has struggled with debt since buying rival Hollywood
Entertainment Corp. for $1 billion in 2005.
name='7'>Werner Committee Offers Second Modified Plan
The unsecured creditors'
committee of Werner Holdings has filed another amended disclosure
statement and liquidation plan, which seeks to answer how the bankrupt
ladder maker will pay out administrative claims, Bankruptcy
Law360 reported yesterday. Last month, the U.S. Trustee in the case
objected to bankrupt Werner Holding Co.'s disclosure statement and
liquidation plan, arguing that the proposal does not properly address
the handling of administrative claims. U.S. Trustee Kelly Beaudin
Stapleton said the plan failed to indicate whether certain
administrative claimants have agreed to be deferred or if there's the
possibility of a contingent payment of their administrative claims. The
motion also said that an effort to convert the case to chapter 7
indicated the estates may not have enough assets to pay the priority
claimants.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/secure/printview.aspx?id=34521'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
name='8'> U.S. Trustee Objects to
name='8'> Portrait Corp.'s Law Firm Fees
Nearly two months after it
exited chapter 11 protection, U.S. Trustee Diana G.
Adams objected to some of the fees being charged in the
Portrait Corp. case, Bankruptcy Law360 reported yesterday.
Specifically, the motion objects to a $10,000 request by bankruptcy
counsel Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman, and a $3,000 request by
conflicts counsel Halperin Battaglia Raicht (HBR) as compensation. The
motion also asked the court to reject a request by investment banker
Berenson & Co. to pay Simon & Thatcher $81,334 in reimbursement.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=34788'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
name='9'> SEC Charges Accountants and Firms with
Sarbanes-Oxley Violations
Federal regulators charged 69
accounting firms and partners yesterday with violating a landmark 2002
antifraud law by auditing public companies without registering with the
board that supervises the accounting industry, the Associated Press
reported today. The Securities and Exchange Commission, which often
brings charges and settles them on the same day, also said that 50 of
the firms and partners had settled with the agency. There were no Big
Four or major accounting firms among the 37 businesses involved. Yet the
action was significant because it represented the SEC's first cases
alleging violation of a provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley law requiring
accounting firms that audit public companies to register with the Public
Company Accounting Oversight Board. Without being registered and subject
to inspections by the board, the SEC said that the 69 accounting firms
and partners around the country together issued audit reports for 53
public companies from November 2003 to October 2005.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/14/business/14sec.html?ref=business&pagewanted=print'>Read
more.
International
name='10'> British Mortgage Lender Offered Emergency
Loan
The Bank of England has offered
an emergency loan to Northern Rock after the mortgage lender became the
biggest British casualty of the credit squeeze sparked by the crisis in
the U.S. subprime mortgage market, Reuters reported today. The British
government said on Friday it had authorized the Bank of England (BoE) to
provide an unspecified amount of liquidity to Northern Rock, the UK's
eighth-largest listed bank, which had the biggest share of the new
mortgage market in the first half of this year. The BoE, which has come
under fire from some financial institutions for its hands-off response
to market turmoil, said Northern Rock was solvent and only in need of
short-term help. But queues formed outside some branches of the
Newcastle, England-based bank, as customers looked to withdraw deposits.
While it has no exposure to subprime loans, Northern Rock has proved
vulnerable to the liquidity squeeze triggered by the U.S. subprime
lending crisis because it has a small deposit base and so has to draw
most of its funding from money markets.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-northernrock-funding.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=business&pagewanted=print'>Read
more.
name='11'> Credia Files for Bankruptcy with Debts of 75.8
Billion Yen
Credia Co., the Japanese
consumer lender partly owned by the nation's biggest credit card firm,
filed for bankruptcy protection today with 75.8 billion yen ($658
million) of liabilities, Bloomberg News reported today. Shizuoka
Prefecture-based Credia had 34.5 billion yen of short-term bank debt,
including 21 billion yen from regional banks, according to its financial
statements. Long-term bank debt was 22 billion yen, including 15 billion
yen from regional banks. Japan's four largest consumer lenders by
assets, led by Acom Co., lost a combined $14 billion last year as they
cut jobs, closed outlets and squeezed assets to reduce costs. Lawmakers
and regulators took aim at the industry after courts invalidated its
highest interest charges. Credia ranks 16th among Japan's consumer
lenders, with 102 billion yen of loans, according to data from the
Liaison Group of Consumer Finance Companies.
href='http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=abD8JnCJQwnA'>Read
more.
TROUBLED COMPANIES IN
THE NEWS
The business news articles
below are taken from the U.S. Business Journal's Daily Summary of
Troubled & Fast Growing U.S. Companies which is published by Bastien
Financial Publications.
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AEP Industries Inc., a South
Hakensack, N.J. manufacturer of plastic packaging film products,
reported its third quarter net declined 76%Ðto $4.8 million, on a
2% revenue declineÐto $205 million.
Chicago Reader, a free
alternative publication in the Chicago, Il. area, wants to trim the size
of its staff, which could also call for its drivers to depart and set
themselves up as independent operators. The Reader, which will also
reduce its page size and outsource some production work, was purchased
over the summer by Creative Loafing of Florida.
Craftmade International Inc., a
Coppell, Tx. distributor of lights and ceiling fans, reported its fourth
quarter net declined 7%Ðto $1.8 million, on a 16% revenue
declineÐto $26 million. For the year, the firm reported its net
declined 17%Ðto $5.9 million, on a 12% revenue declineÐto $103
million.
InFocus Corp., the troubled
Wilsonville, Or. projector maker, chose a new chief executive, Robert
OÕMalley, and has given up on its plans to find a buyer. Mr.
OÕMalley, formerly with Tech Data Corp., will try to improve
InFocusÕs performance as an independent company and satisfy
investors. In its recent quarter, InFocus managed to narrow its loss, to
$7.8 million, although it reported that revenue sank to $73.6 million,
down from $97.6 million a year ago.
JetBlue Airways Corp. bestowed
the additional role of president on Russ Chew, its current chief
operating officer, as the Forest Hills, N.Y. discount carrier continues
battling both operational problems and a sagging stock price. JetBlue,
whose shares have plunged 32% this year, now faces the additional
challenge of Virgin America Inc., a low-cost rival, starting up service
in several of JetBlueÕs markets.
Option One Mortgage Corp., a unit
of H&R Block Inc. of Kansas City, Mo., is cutting another 575 jobs,
on top of more than 600 job cuts that it announced back in May. As a
result, H&R Block will incur a total of $38 million in extra charges
for the two rounds of job reductions. Back in the spring, H&R Block
agreed to sell Option One to an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management
LP, but now that Option One has fallen out of compliance with certain
financing requirements, Cerberus is still trying to decide whether it
wants to go through with the deal.
Spartech Corp., a Clayton, Mo.
plastics firm, reported its third quarter net declined 17%Ðto $8.8
million, on a 4% revenue declineÐto $361 million.