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January 9, 2007
OCA Inc., a
size='3'>Metairie
orthodontic services firm, filed a new chapter 11 plan after a
bankruptcy judge rejected an earlier proposal that would have provided a
recovery for some large OCA shareholders, the Associated Press reported
yesterday. OCA's modified plan scraps the deal between senior lender
Silver Point Finance LLC and some shareholders that Bankruptcy
Judge Jerry
Brown said violated bankruptcy law. Under its
new reorganization plan, OCA will cancel all its existing stock and old
shareholders are out of the money. Judge Brown ruled Dec. 29 that
bankruptcy law was violated by a provision in the plan allowing Silver
Point to pass on a 15 percent stake in the reorganized dental practice
management company to some of OCA's large stockholders if they supported
the plan.
href='http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070108/oca_bankruptcy.html?.v=1'>Read
more.
Airlines
id='2'>Mesaba Creditors Move to Protect Northwest
Deal
Mesaba Aviation Inc.'s
unsecured creditors want bankruptcy court approval to file a chapter 11
plan on the carrier's behalf, hoping to clear the way for Northwest
Airlines Corp.’s desired purchase of the regional carrier,
Bankruptcy Law360
reported yesterday.The unsecured creditors’ committee asked the court
last Thursday to grant the group authority to submit a reorganization
plan if the board of Mesaba’s parent company, AIR Holdings Inc.,
does not endorse the sale. Northwest Airlines owns 27.5 percent of
MAIR.Mesaba will enjoy the exclusive right to file a chapter 11
reorganization plan until Feb. 12, but the company needs unanimous
approval from the MAIR board before it can file a plan.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=16044'>Read
more . (Registration required.)
w:st='on'>
id='3'>US
face='Times New Roman' size='3'> Airways Secures another Backer for
Delta Bid
w:st='on'>
size='3'>US
size='3'>Airways Group Inc. has upped the ante in its hostile takeover
bid for bankrupt
size='3'>Delta Air Lines Inc., announcing Monday that Morgan Stanley
will join Citigroup as a lead financial backer of the proposed
merger, Bankruptcy
Law360 reported yesterday. As it stands now,
Morgan Stanley and Citigroup will underwrite the $7.2 billion in debt
financing that US Airways needs to put its plan into action. However, US
Airways also said it retains the right to add even more banks to the
group, raising the possibility that it will increase its $8.4 billion
offer.
face='Times New Roman'
size='3'>US
size='3'>Airways first proposed its hostile bid in November, offering
creditors a “significant premium” of $4 billion in cash and
78.5 million shares of US Airways stock.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/secure/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=16001'>Read
more . (Registration required.)
id='4'>Creditors Bristle at
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Delphi
size='3'>Bid to Quash Subpoena
Several committees have
objected to Delphi Corp.’s attempt to quash the subpoenas of two
company directors related to a private equity agreement that would pump
$3.4 billion into the reorganized auto parts supplier,
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Bankruptcy Law360
size='3'>reported yesterday. The unsecured creditors’ committee,
the equity committee and the ad hoc trade committee opposed the motion
to quash in documents filed Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the
Southern District of New York. The committees want to question Robert S.
Miller, lead independent director, and John D. Opie, executive chairman
of the board, but
that their testimony would be duplicative.
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Delphi
scheduled for Thursday, which would consider the company’s
business judgment in connection with the proposed equity
agreement.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=16025'>Read
more . (Registration required.)
id='5'>Magnolia Seeks Chapter 11 Filing Extension
Magnolia Energy LP, a
power wholesaler, is asking for more time to file a chapter 11 plan
outlining its strategy for exiting bankruptcy, the Associated Press
reported yesterday. Magnolia wants until May 29 to propose a chapter 11
plan that will end the bankruptcy it began Sept. 29 in
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Delaware
papers filed in support of the bid for extra time say the company has
begun settlement talks with its secured lenders, who are owed $416
million. Magnolia's
size='3'>Miss.
to the southeastern
w:st='on'>United
States
href='http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070108/magnolia_energy_bankruptcy.html?.v=1'>Read
more.
id='6'>Sentex Sensing Bidding for BenQ Mobile
w:st='on'>
size='3'>U.S.
size='3'>technology company Sentex Sensing Technologies expressed its
interest to buy insolvent cellphone handset manufacturer BenQ
Mobile, EE Times
Europe reported today. Sentex president Henrik
Rubinstein said his company’s interest is based on the 'strong
technology' of the former Siemens mobile handset branch and that the
possible purchase of BenQ Mobile would also be instrumental for Sentex
to enter European markets. In the past, both companies already had
jointly conducted developments for the Sentex Biometric product lines.
Sentex is currently in discussions with several financial institutions
for the strategic financing of the planned deal.
href='http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=196802102'>Read
more .
id='7'>State Farm to
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Settle
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Gulf
Claims
State Farm, the biggest
home insurer in the nation, is in the final stages of settling hundreds
of lawsuits over its payments for homes wrecked by Hurricane Katrina
along the
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Mississippi
size='3'>Gulf
face='Times New Roman'
size='3'>Coast
the New York
Times reported today. The settlement of 639
lawsuits for $80 million could be the first step in resolving a bitter
legal battle between homeowners and their insurers that had threatened
to drag on for years and has already slowed
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Mississippi
size='3'>’s recovery since the storm in August 2005. State Farm,
under the tentative accord, would provide an average of about $125,000
to homeowners who filed lawsuits, although the payments would range from
as little as about $2,000 to about $2 million.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/09/business/09insure.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=business&pagewanted=print'>Read
more.
Dana
Sells Trailer Axle Manufacturing Assets to Hendrickson
Dana Corp. said that it
has completed the sale of its trailer axle manufacturing assets to
Hendrickson
w:st='on'>
size='3'>USA
L.L.C. and its affiliates, according to a company press release
yesterday. The
w:st='on'>
size='3'>U.S.
Canadian assets, which include trailer axle production equipment,
inventory and related assets, were sold for a combined $31 million,
subject to inventory adjustments at closing. Additionally, a Chinese
affiliate of Hendrickson established a $2 million escrow for the
purchase of certain trailer axle production equipment, inventory and
related assets from Dana's Chinese subsidiary Dana (
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Wuxi
expects that the sale of the
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Wuxi
close in the first quarter of 2007.
href='http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2007/01/08/033395.html'>Read
more.
id='9'>Realtors Look to Push Ban on Banks' Real Estate
Activities
The National Association
of Realtors said Monday they hope the House will pass a measure that
would permanently bar banks from engaging in real estate brokerage and
management activities,
size='3'>CongressDaily reported today. The
group has criticized three rulings by the Office of the Comptroller of
the Currency that have allowed banks to own hotels, develop condominiums
and own part of a wind farm. The association contends these rulings
represent an unwise mixing of banking and commerce that will eventually
lead to another savings-and-loan type bailout. The 1999
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act removed barriers for banks to enter the
securities and insurance industries, but not specifically for real
estate development, where banks could face a conflict of interest as
both owner and lender.
id='10'>TROUBLED COMPANIES IN THE NEWS
1000’s of companies
lose money or experience some form of difficulty each
quarter.
The business news
articles below are taken from the
size='3'>Daily Summary of Troubled & Fast Growing U.S. Companies and
Other Business News published by Bastien
Financial Publications.
To begin receiving the COMPLETE
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each morning, email
face='Times New Roman' color='#0000ff'
size='3'>steve@creditnews.comyour name, company name, address, phone and
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size='3'>Continental Airlines Inc.,
size='3'>Houston
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Texas
report a small loss in its fourth quarter.
size='3'>General Motors Corp.,
size='3'>Detroit
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Mich.
its presence at the international auto show in
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Detroit
week. The carmaker is trying to excite consumers about its new
models so it can boost sales. Currently, GM is sitting on more
than one million vehicles in stock, which works out to about 41,000 cars
for every point of its nearly 25% share of the
w:st='on'>
size='3'>U.S.
size='3'>market. In contrast, rival Toyota Motor Corp. of
size='3'>Japan
15.4% marketshare in the
w:st='on'>
size='3'>U.S.,
carries only 16,000 cars for each point of its
marketshare.
size='3'>Herbalife's stock price sank 24%
after the nutritional products marketer reduced its year-over-year net
sales growth projections. The one-day drop in its stock price
wiped out gains for the entire past year.
size='3'>Meade Instruments Corp., an
size='3'>Irvine
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Calif.
telescopes, reported a third quarter net loss of nearly $1.2 million.
Revenue declined 9%--to $48.5 million.
size='3'>Skyline Corp., an
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Elkhart
of manufactured homes, reported its second quarter net income tumbled
86%--to $620,000. Revenue declined 31%--to $94.8
million.
size='3'>Tweeter Home Entertainment Group Inc.
size='3'>, a
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Canton
size='3'>,
size='3'>Mass.
high-end audio and video products, said that it will trim its overhead
staff by 20%, hoping to save $6 million a year as it continues its
efforts to return to profitability. The company also said that revenue
in its quarter ended 12/31 fell 12%--to $235 million, including a 10%
drop in same-store sales.