December 31
Credit Crunch Hits Firms in Chapter
11
Since the credit crunch began in June, companies trying to exit
chapter 11 have really felt the funding pinch as 2007 draws to a close,
the Associated Press reported on Friday. Three of the most significant
bankruptcies in recent years have been Dura Automotive Systems Inc.,
Delphi Corp. and Calpine Corp., and all three now face a hostile credit
environment at a time when they need help to stand on their corporate
feet. Dura was the first to postpone its emergence from chapter 11
because it couldn't obtain affordable financing for a $425 million
senior secured bankruptcy exit loan. Delphi recently cut its planned
bankruptcy exit financing by $1.9 billion because it could not get
credit. Calpine said it would cut its bankruptcy-exit financing package
and take more time to emerge from chapter 11.
href='http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/apwire/9b7a13385716ca729a484fc5baa7b1cf.htm'>Read
more.
size='3'>Fundraisers' $8 Million to Help
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Spokane
Out of Bankruptcy
Eastern Washington's Catholic community has raised most of the money
needed to settle clergy childhood sex-abuse cases, surpassing
expectations and ensuring that the diocese will emerge from bankruptcy,
the Seattle Spokesman-Review reported yesterday. Parishes have collected
$8 million of the $10 million pledged. The money is helping to pay for
the overall $48 million settlement needed to end the bankruptcy of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane. The rest comes from the sale of
diocese property and insurance payments, among other sources.;
href='http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004100005_webparishes31.html?syndication=rss'>Read
more.
Analyst
Predicts More Homebuilders to File for Bankruptcy in
2008
Homebuilders, including
Beazer Homes USA Inc., Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. and TOUSA Inc., might
face bankruptcy in 2008 as U.S. house prices drop to levels not seen
since 2002, said Alex Barron, an analyst for Agency Trading Group,
Bloomberg News reported on Saturday. The Standard & Poor's
Supercomposite Homebuilding Index has fallen 56 percent so far this
year. The rising inventory of unsold homes, heavy debt loads and falling
home prices will continue to hurt builders in 2008, particularly those
whose businesses are concentrated in
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Florida
size='3'>,
size='3'>Washington
w:st='on'>
size='3'>D.C.
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Phoenix
markets with the furthest to fall, Barron said. Beazer, Hovnanian and
TOUSA, along with Irvine, Calif.-based Standard Pacific Corp. and
size='3'>Bonita
face='Times New Roman'
size='3'>Springs
Fla.-based WCI Communities, are among the publicly traded companies that
are most vulnerable, Barron said.
href='http://pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_544948.html?source=rss&feed=4'>Read
more.
Harvey
Electronics Files for Chapter 11
High-end audio and video
products retailer Harvey Electronics Inc. said Friday that it filed for
chapter 11 protection with the bankruptcy court for the Southern
District of New York, the Associated Press reported Friday.
size='3'>Harvey
it will continue to operate its business and manage its property as a
debtor-in-possession, and expects to file a plan of reorganization
shortly. The company, which operates stores in the
w:st='on'>
York metropolitan area
under such brand names as Bang & Olufsen, said it hopes to emerge
from bankruptcy protection by the spring of 2008.
href='http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071228/harvey_electronics_bankruptcy.html?.v=1'>Read
more.
Commentary: “Speak Up, Mr.
Buffett”
Warren Buffett's entry into the muni bond insurance market could
represent perfect timing, both financially and politically. Investors
can only hope he'll seek to do good while doing well, an opinion piece
in the Wall Street Journal said yesterday. Specifically, he can
help put an end to an egregious double standard. While Congress has been
busy crafting still more regulations on private business, members have
ignored SEC warnings about the lack of transparency in government
finance. Unlike publicly traded corporations, state, county and city
bond issuers don't have to provide timely, robust disclosure or follow
standard accounting practices. Yet the same Washington pols who
cheerfully ratcheted up the pressure on companies via Sarbanes-Oxley
apparently have no time to address shady accounting in the public
sector. The recent history of government frauds from San Diego to
Syracuse suggests they should make time.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119906070725958499.html'>Read more
(free subscription required).
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Hawaii
size='3'>Bankruptcy Expected to Increase in
2008
Hawaiian bankruptcy filings
last year were up 44 percent to more than 1,300 through midday Friday,
compared to 955 last year, the Associated Press reported on Saturday.
The last time there were so many bankruptcy cases was in 2005, when
there were 4,481 filings ahead of a new federal bankruptcy law that made
it more difficult and costly. Conditions are expected to worsen next
year and in 2009 as the state begins to feel the effects of the global
credit crunch.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119906070725958499.html'>Read
more.
Belts
Tighten to Cope with Mortgage Mess
The
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Washington
w:st='on'>
size='3'>D.C.
financial sector reflects the industry nationwide, with stock prices
dropping, companies incurring losses from sour mortgages and
private-equity investors pulling back on takeovers because of tighter
lending, the Washington
Post reported today. With a slowdown - or even
a recession - looming, things could get much worse before they get
better. The mess arrives on the heels of a near-decade-long run-up in
the
size='3'>region's financial sector, where a new generation of financial
entrepreneurs exploited easy access to cash and credit to invest in a
raft of businesses. The activity reshaped the region's financial
landscape, creating goliaths such as the Carlyle Group, mid-size lenders
like CapitalSource and Allied Capital, and smaller players such as
MainStreet Lender, Ramsey Asset Management and the Halifax Group. The
next few months are likely to filter those that will survive from those
that will perish, while others will simply batten down the hatches and
wait for the good times to return, executives said.
href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/30/AR2007123001760.html'>Read
more.
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Minnesota
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Golf Resort Files for
Bankruptcy
The owners of Izatys
Resort on
size='3'>Mille
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Lacs
size='3'>Lake
and hope to auction the property early next year, according to their
lawyer and a recent filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in
size='3'>Minneapolis
the Minneapolis
Star-Tribune reported yesterday. For now,
Izatys is closed, and at a hearing on Jan. 10, attorney Jim Baillie will
ask U.S. Bankruptcy Judge
size='3'>Nancy Dreher to review a plan to sell
the lakeshore golf resort. The owners, who bought Izatys in 2003, are
listed as Dave Kramber of Onamia, Minn., the home of Izatys; Al Gluck of
Colfax, Wis., and David Thomas of Chetek, Wis. Izatys, which opened in
1922, is about 90 miles northwest of Minneapolis.
href='http://www.startribune.com/business/12904176.html'>Read
more.
International
size='3'>Poland’s Prima Charter Airline Nose Dives into
Bankruptcy
The
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Warsaw Business Journal
size='3'>reported yesterday that
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Poland
size='3'>’s Prima Charter airline may be pushed into bankruptcy on
Jan 2., when a court supervisor will prepare a report on the financial
condition of the firm. On the basis of which the court will take a
decision on announcing the bankruptcy of PCh. 'The company should
evidently go bankrupt and moreover it has an incompetent management
board which should not handle its property,' said Sebastian Bogusz,
proxy of an anonymous creditor, which submitted the bankruptcy motion.
This creditor is one of the potential new shareholders, that was
dissatisfied with the mess in the company, which resulted with
non-registration of three attempts to raise equity in Prima Charter by
the court. Some of the investors, including the creditor, demand
reimbursement of the payments they made for the unsuccessful attempts at
raising equity. 'We intend to pay off this debt and we are already in
negotiations with the proxy of the investor,' said management board
member of PCh Adam Wychowaniec. Sebastian Bogusz denied that any such
talks are in progress. 'The truth is the company needs cash urgently and
it does not have it,' said a Puls Biznesu source.
A recent amendment
to
size='3'>Canada
Pension Benefits Act is intended to provide further protection for
pension plan members when their employer voluntarily closes or shuts
down in
face='Times New Roman'
size='3'>Canada
the Truro Daily
News reported yesterday. During the recent
legislative session, the provincial government introduced an amendment
that will ensure all pension plans are fully funded when a company
leaves the province or winds down its pension plan. The amendment does
not cover companies that close down through bankruptcy or are placed in
receivership. For more information on the Pension Benefits Legislation,
visit the Web
site.