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September 8,
2009
House Panel to Examine Role
of Lending Industry in the Foreclosure Crisis
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Commercial and
Administrative Law will hold a hearing tomorrow titled “The Role
of the Lending Industry in the Home Foreclosure Crisis.” The
hearing will take place at 2 p.m. ET in Room 2141 of the Rayburn House
Office Building. Witnesses to be announced.
Autos
Court to Take Second Look at Chrysler Sale
A group of Indiana pension funds asked the U.S.
Supreme Court to take a second look at objections it made to Chrysler
Group LLC's bankruptcy proceedings, raising concerns over the precedent
set by the automaker's rapid sale to Italian automaker Fiat SpA,
size='3'>Bankruptcy Law360 reported on Friday.
In a petition filed with the Supreme Court Friday, Indiana pension funds
including the Indiana State Police Pension Trust and the Indiana State
Teachers Retirement Fund, among others, said the high court should
examine the question of whether 363 sales in bankruptcy court can be
used as a “side door” to reorganize a debtor's finances
while bypassing creditor protections. Chrysler's bankruptcy proceeding
leaves an improper precedent in its wake, upsetting creditor protections
built into the Bankruptcy Code, the Indiana pension funds argue, making
it an appropriate issue for the high court to take up.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/print_article/120763'>Read
more. (Subscription required.)
GM Seeks 4-Month
Extension to File Plan to Repay Creditors
Lawyers winding down the remnants of General Motors
left in bankruptcy are asking a judge for a four-month extension to
develop their proposal to repay creditors of the automaker, Dow
Jones
size='3'>Daily Bankruptcy Review reported
today. GM faces a Sept. 29 deadline for filing the plan, but lawyers for
the company say they need to push that to Jan. 27 so they can evaluate
remaining assets and claims from creditors. The company is also working
on “substantial post-closing activities” following the sale
of its assets to a company led by the U.S. government, they said.
Bankruptcy Judge
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Robert Gerber
size='3'>will hold a hearing on the extension request on Sept.
14.
Judge Approves Auto
Supplier JL French’s Exit Plan
Aluminum die-cast component supplier J.L. French
Automotive Castings Inc. has secured court and creditor approval for its
chapter 11 reorganization plan,
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Bankruptcy Law360
size='3'>reported on Friday. The company said that roughly $160 million
in first-lien claims and $64 million in second-lien claims will be
swapped for 95 percent and 5 percent equity stakes, respectively. $50
million in first-lien revolving claims coming due immediately will be
converted into a four-year loan. The plan includes authorization for a
$15 million exit debtor-in-possession financing facility provided by
certain first-lien lenders, as well as the appointment of a new board of
directors. CEO Thomas Musgrave will remain at the helm of the
reorganized company, per the plan.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/print_article/120646'>Read
more. (Subscription required.)
to Chapter 11 Plan
The insurers of Star Tribune Holdings Corp.have
objected to the bankrupt newspaper publisher's chapter 11 plan, calling
it unclear on the treatment of the publisher's insurance policies and
saying it could prejudice the insurers' rights to defend claims and
arbitrate certain disputes,
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Bankruptcy Law360
size='3'>reported on Friday. ACE American Insurance Co., a number of its
subsidiaries and ESIS Inc. filed their limited objection to the
reorganization plan in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern
District of New York on Thursday. The insurers argue that the plan
should be rejected because it does not provide adequate means for
implementation, to the extent that it relies upon coverage provided by
the insurers' policies despite vague or nonexistent definitions of how
those policies are to be treated.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/articles/120715'>Read more.
(Subscription required.)
to Chapter 11
Archangel Diamond Corporation (ADC) has filed a notice
to convert a pending chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding to a chapter 11
bankruptcy, IDEXOnline.com reported on Friday. The notice of conversion,
a chapter 11 plan and a motion to approve a loan to finance ADC was
filed on Thursday. The chapter 11 plan describes ADC's proposal to
protect its assets, including its litigation against Lukoil in Colorado
state court through the operation of a liquidating trust.Additionally,
ADC is currently involved in an arbitration against
Arkhangelskgeoldobycha in Stockholm, Sweden.
href='http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullNews.asp?id=32881'>Read
more.
Wireless communications equipment maker GigaBeam Corp.
said Friday that it filed for chapter 11 protection and expects to
emerge from bankruptcy protection before the year ends, the Associated
Press reported on Saturday. The company said that its senior investors
promised to provide adequate debtor-in-possession financing to support
GigaBeam during the restructuring process. GigaBeam plans to use
financing proceeds, along with cash from daily operations, to pay for
expenses like employee wages and benefits and other operating expenses.
Since 2007, GigaBeam has cut its operating and administrative costs
almost in half. Read
more.
AIG Could Make More Quick
Sales of Its Units
American International Group Inc. is still leaving
open the option of quick spinoffs and is shedding smaller units like the
asset-management division it agreed to sell to prominent Hong Kong
businessman Richard Li, the
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Wall Street Journal
size='3'>reported today.AIG said Saturday it had agreed to sell a major
asset-management unit to Li's private investment vehicle, Pacific
Century Group. Li will pay an initial $300 million in cash on closing
for AIG Investments, and an additional $200 million in carried interest
and other payments linked to future performance of the business.The
assets under management at AIG Investments fell in some categories after
the government bailout, cutting into its value, and the
performance-based conditions tied to the deal suggest concerns about
further problems. AIG Investments manages $89 billion for clients in 32
countries. Its assets include private-equity funds, 'hedge
funds-of-funds,' stocks and fixed income.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125236175853190709.html'>Read
more. (Subscription required.)
Aid
President Barack Obama today named Ron Bloom as his
senior counselor for manufacturing, the
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Wall Street Journal
size='3'>reported. Bloom, who also heads the White House's auto task
force, will work with agencies across the administration on policies to
assist the beleaguered U.S. manufacturing industry. Bloom, who
previously advised the United Steelworkers union and worked as an
investment banker, won't dictate how much a factory should produce or
the types of products it should make. Instead, working with the National
Economic Council, he will serve as 'the single point person' to make
sure administration efforts to help the manufacturing sector are
coordinated, the White House said. Since the manufacturing sector has
been hit hard by the recession, as part of a broader economic-stimulus
program the administration has introduced tax policies aimed at
promoting jobs in the renewable-energy sector, among other
measures.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125227882368289581.html'>Read
more. (Subscription required.)
Nevada Residents Ask to
Proceed with WL Homes Suit
Joining a growing number of California residents, a
group of 62 Nevada homeowners is seeking court approval to pursue a
state court suit against bankrupt builder WL Homes LLC over alleged
construction defects at a Las Vegas housing development,
face='Times New Roman'>
size='3'>Bankruptcy Law360 reported on Friday.
Proceeding with the suit in Nevada state court would prevent the
homeowners from having to litigate their claims twice, and lifting the
stay would not harm WL Homes because the plaintiffs hope to collect from
the company's insurance policies and not from the estate, they argued.
The homeowners launched their complaint Feb. 1, 2008, more than a year
before WL Homes filed for bankruptcy protection. The residents are
seeking damages for the alleged construction defects, which include
poorly built roofs, leaking windows, drywall and stucco cracking, and
insect intrusion.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/print_article/120682'>Read more.
(Subscription required.)
Balsillie Ups Coyotes Bid
by $30 Million
James L. Balsillie, the Canadian billionaire who was
already offering $212.5 million to buy the Phoenix Coyotes, increased
his offer by another $30 million on Monday, the
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>New York Times
size='3'>reported today. Balsillie’s PSE Sports and Entertainment
revised its bid ahead of Thursday’s auction of the club by
offering to pay the city of Glendale $50 million to allow the Coyotes to
get out of their 30-year lease at the city-owned Jobing.com Arena and
move to Hamilton, Ontario. Glendale had claimed in court that it would
lose $500 million in revenue if the team left. Balsillie’s $242.5
million bid is higher than the other two for the team, both of which
would keep the Coyotes in the Phoenix area in the immediate future: Ice
Edge Holdings’ $150 million offer, and the NHL’s own $140
million bid.
href='http://slapshot.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/07/balsillie-ups-coyotes-bid-by-30-million/'>Read
more.
Debts Closing in on
Photographer Annie Leibovitz
Annie Leibovitz risks losing the copyright to her
images - and her entire life's work - if she doesn't pay back a $24
million loan by today, the Associated Press reported on Sunday. Art
Capital Group, a New York company that issues short-term loans against
fine and decorative arts and real estate, sued her in late July for
breach of contract. Some experts say filing for bankruptcy
reorganization could be the best option for Leibovitz who has put up as
collateral her three historic Greenwich Village townhouses, an upstate
New York property and her work. Last year, Leibovitz put up her homes
and the copyright to every picture she has ever taken - or will take -
as collateral to secure the loan to pay off her mounting debt: unpaid
bills, mortgage payments and tax liens, ACG said.
href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/05/AR2009090501529_pf.html'>Read
more.
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