style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10'>
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Clinton
Hangs Veto Pen Over Bankruptcy Bill
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>President
Clinton said yesterday he would veto the long-stalled
legislation
that would overhaul consumer bankruptcy laws, according to
today’s
CQ Daily Monitor.
“I
will veto the bill that we understand Republicans plan to
forward
to my desk,” Clinton wrote to Senate Minority Leader Tom
Daschle,
(D-S.D.). The bill
(H.R.
833), which has been negotiated in private, would make it
more difficult
for debtors to use bankruptcy to walk away from their
debts.
style='mso-spacerun: yes'> Clinton raised concerns over language
that
would bar discharge of debts by individuals who make a
“willful
and malicious threat of serious bodily injury.”
style='mso-spacerun: yes'> Calling
the current provision “inadequate,” the President said he
would
prefer language preventing those who commit violent acts
at health
care centers, particularly abortion clinics, from using
bankruptcy
to escape debts, including civil damages, fines or
attorney fees. Clinton also objected to provisions on debt collection
practices
for bounced checks and to the fact that Senate Judiciary
Chairman
Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) inserted the provision into the
bill even
though it was not in either the House or Senate versions
of the
measure. The
President also
said he was unhappy with the provisions setting a federal
cap of
$100,000 in the amount of home equity a debtor could
shield from
creditors in a bankruptcy case.
In the five states that have no limit on the
so-called homestead
exemption, debtors could still protect their entire equity
interest
if they have owned their homes for at least two
years.
Clinton said the provision creates a new loophole
for the
rich that would not be available to moderate-income
debtors.
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>AmeriServe
Files Motion to Sell Equipment Division
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>AmeriServe
Food Distribution, Inc. filed a motion on June 27 with the
U.S.
Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., to sell its
equipment division,
according to a newswire report. The report also said the sale of the division will be
contingent
upon the satisfaction of a minimum sales price.
style='mso-spacerun:
yes'> All interested parties will be invited to submit bids
against that
minimum. It is
expected
that, upon the court’s approval, an auction and sale
hearing will
be set for late July.
The
Addison, Texas-based AmeriServe is one of the nation’s
largest distributors
specializing in fast food restaurants such as KFC, Long
John Silvers,
Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Baan
Says Risk Bankruptcy if Bid Fails
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Dutch
software group Baan may file for bankruptcy if a takeover
bid by
Britain’s Invensys fails, according to a Reuters
report.
Baan CEO Pierre Everaert said bankruptcy was the
worst-case
scenario if the offer did not succeed.
style='mso-spacerun: yes'>
Everaert confirmed that bankruptcy was the last of
the four
possible options for Baan, would the Invensys bid
fail.
If the bid fails, auditors PriceWaterhouseCoopers
are “likely
to issue a negative ‘going concern’ opinion in 1999
audited accounts”
to be filed by July15.
style='mso-spacerun: yes'> The Amsterdam company has a debt of
$100 million.
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Telegen
Corp. Plan Confirmed
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Telegen
Corporation announced yesterday that its plan of
reorganization
has been confirmed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the
Northern
District of California, according to a newswire
report.
The plan provides for all allowed claims of secured
and unsecured
creditors of Telegen Corp. and its subsidiaries, be paid
in full
in cash or common stock.
“We
are very pleased that the plan has been confirmed by the
court and
Telgen can now move toward commercialization of its flat
panel and
communications products,” said Jessica L. Stevens,
Telegen’s President/CEO.
According to David S. Caplan of Brooks & Raub
in Palo
Alto, Calif., the attorneys who handled Telegen’s
reorganization,
“This is a true ‘phoenix rising.’ It is one of the most
remarkable
turnaround stories we have experienced in this district in
a long
time.” The San
Mateo, Calif.
company is a technology-based corporation that specializes
in telecommunication
and Internet products.
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Smith
Corona Will Sell Stock
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>A
month after declaring bankruptcy and announcing it would
shed its
assets, typewriter maker Smith Corona said yesterday it
will sell
49 percent of its stock and retain its name.
style='mso-spacerun: yes'>
The stock purchase with Pubco Corp, a
Cleveland-based manufacturer
of thermal printers and supplies is part of Smith Corona’s
ongoing
reorganization plan and replaces an earlier deal with
Corona Wholesale
Office Machine Co.
style='mso-spacerun: yes'> Under the terms of agreement,
approved in bankruptcy
court the Cortland, N.Y.-based company would be
reorganized under
chapter 11 and continue to exist as an ongoing
entity.
style='mso-spacerun: yes'> Upon completion of the chapter 11
proceeding,
Pubco would buy 49 percent of the stock in the reorganized
Smith
Corona.
style='mso-spacerun: yes'> The remaining 51 percent of the new
common
stock would be issued to creditors and, if allowed by the
court,
to stockholders.
Smith Corona
stopped making products when it emerged from chapter 11
proceedings
in 1997.
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style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Vencor
Receives Court Approval to Extend Maturity in DIP
Financing
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Vencor,
Inc. announced yesterday that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court
for the
District of Delaware approved an amendment to the
company’s debtor-in-possession
financing to extend its maturity until September
2000.
A newswire report also said that the DIP financing
and existing
cash flow will be used to fund the company’s operations
during its
restructuring.
style='mso-spacerun: yes'> The amendment also revises certain
covenants
and permits the company to file its plan of reorganization
through
July 18. Vencor
and its
subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for reorganization
under
chapter 11 with the court in September
1999.
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