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Schumer Vows Fight For Abortion Provision In Bankruptcy
Bill
Pro-bankruptcy reform lobbyists who were counting on Sen. Charles
Schumer (D-N.Y.) to end his dogged fight to include anti-protest
language in the legislation might have to rethink their strategies,
CongressDaily reported. In an interview this week, Sen. Schumer
said he plans to continue his campaign to include his provision, which
-- while it does not mention abortion -- is aimed at curtailing the
disruptive activity of protestors who station themselves outside
abortion clinics. The House overwhelmingly approved a new bankruptcy
bill, stripped of the language, earlier this month. Senate Judiciary
Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) has said he also wants to keep the Schumer
language out of the bill and likely has the votes to do so in
committee.
While the political balance of power will improve the chances for
passage of bankruptcy reform in the 108th Congress, a Senate filibuster
still could prevent it from coming to an up or down vote on the Senate
floor, reported the newswire. Critics of the legislation insist they
have at least the 40 Democratic votes to sustain a filibuster. As for
Schumer, when asked whether he might be more pliable this year with
respect to his 'abortion amendment,' his answer was telling. 'I believe
in it,' he said, reported the newswire.
US AIRWAYS
US Airways Exits Bankruptcy, Targets Regional Growth
US Airways Group Inc. will exit bankruptcy today with a $1 billion loan,
largely backed by the U.S. government, and a plan to purchase 100 new,
small jets to spur growth, Bloomberg News reported. The airline expects
to place an order in the next 30 days with either Bombardier Inc. or
Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA for 50 50-seat jets and 50 70-seat
jets, plus options to purchase another 100 of each aircraft, said US
Airways Chief Executive Officer David Siegel. US Airways leaves
bankruptcy as planned eight months after filing for chapter 11
protection in August amid an industrywide slump in air travel that may
now bring down the world's largest carrier, AMR Corp.'s American
Airlines. The war in Iraq has worsened the revenue drop and will
challenge the new US Airways, which is about two-thirds the size it was
before the Sept. 11 attacks and has 23 percent lower annual costs than
last year, reported the newswire.
US Airways Wins U.S. Agency Approval for New Pilot Pension
Plan
US Airways Group Inc. won approval to end its pilots pension plan and
replace it with a new one, bringing it closer to a planned exit from
bankruptcy on March
31, Bloomberg News reported. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC)
said in a statement that it won't object to a new defined-contribution
plan that pilots and US Airways agreed to last week. Details of the plan
for 7,000 pilots weren't disclosed, reported the newswire. U.S.
Bankruptcy Judge Stephen Mitchell on March 18 approved a
bankruptcy recovery plan that lets the airline hand over ownership to
its creditors, eliminate more than $10 billion in debt and emerge from
bankruptcy by the end of the month. US Airways filed for bankruptcy
protection in August as losses widened after the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks, Bloomberg reported.
UNITED AIRLINES
United Airlines to Cut Pilot Pay 30 Percent Under Proposed
Contract
UAL Corp.'s United Airlines will cut pilot pay by 30 percent and
proceed with plans for a low-cost airline under an agreement reached
with union leaders yesterday, Bloomberg News reported. The airline,
which filed for the largest industry bankruptcy ever in December, has
been trying to reduce annual labor expense by $2.56 billion to help the
carrier avoid liquidation and emerge from the chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection next year. The union's top council endorsed the agreement and
will now have 7,800 pilots vote on it with results expected on April 11.
The pilots' pay at the main airline would begin to rise again by 1.5
percent annually starting in May 2006, and in every year through April
2009, reported the newswire.
NYSE To Suspend Trading In UAL
The New York Stock Exchange plans to suspend trading in shares of UAL
Corp., citing the company's chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and its
inability to meet the $1 average closing price rule, Dow Jones reported.
In a press release on Friday, the exchange said UAL expects its shares
to begin trading on the over-the-counter Bulletin Board on Thursday.
AMR Pilots Offer $660 Million Concession Plan; Talks
Continue
Pilots for AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, the world's largest carrier,
outlined a plan for $660 million in worker concessions designed to help
save the company from possible bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported. The
Allied Pilots Association proposal, offered after a month of daily
negotiations, primarily involves pay reductions and work-rule changes
that would increase productivity, the union said in a statement posted
on its web site. Talks continue between AMR and its unions on a total of
$1.8 billion in concessions. American may seek bankruptcy protection as
early as next week, even with the concessions, because travel demand has
declined since the war with Iraq began, people familiar with the matter
said, reported the newswire.
Fleming May Restate Results; Company Needs New Credit
Fleming Cos. said on Friday that it likely will restate past earnings
and that it needs more time to complete its 2002 annual report, the
Associated Press reported. The struggling grocery distributor also said
it is trying to line up new financing. Fleming indicated that its
lenders were unlikely to extend it new credit and that it is talking
with vendors and others to get new short-term financing. Without that
financing, Fleming said it 'now believes that its 2002 financial
statements will likely include a going concern uncertainty' -- meaning
the company's auditor might express doubts in the report about the
company's ability to stay in business, reported the newswire.
Corning Settles Asbestos Suit, Plans a $200 Million Charge
Corning Inc. will take a $200 million charge in its first quarter to
settle asbestos litigation against it and part-owned insulation maker
Pittsburgh Corning Corp., Dow Jones reported The company said on Friday
that it had reached an agreement with the representatives of asbestos
claimants for all current and future asbestos claims that might arise
from Pittsburgh Corning products or operations. Corning had earlier
predicted that the costs to settle the litigation would be between $100
million and $150 million, reported the newswire.
HEALTHSOUTH
HeathSouth Bondholders Hire Counsel
An unofficial committee of bondholders of embattled hospital manager
HealthSouth Corp. on Friday hired Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver &
Jacobson partner Brad Scheler, a spokeswoman for the law firm said, Dow
Jones reported. Scheler will be representing all classes of bondholders,
except holders of HealthSouth's convertible notes. HealthSouth disclosed
on Thursday that its bank lenders have declared it in default of a $1.25
billion credit facility due to the Securities and Exchange Commission
and Department of Justice investigations into its financial reporting
and related activity, which violate the loan agreements, reported the
newswire.
HealthSouth's Scrushy Probe Expands to Private Firms, FBI
Says
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has expanded its accounting-fraud
probe of HealthSouth Corp.'s chief executive, Richard Scrushy, to
include an examination of his private investments, Bloomberg News
reported. Scrushy set up private companies that dealt in airplanes,
radio programs and yachts. Some did business with HealthSouth, which did
not report the transactions as required by law, a company spokesman
said. U.S. investigators also want to determine whether HealthSouth
overbilled Medicare, the FBI said, reported the newswire.
Sunoco Unit Sues GenTek's General Chemical On Plant
Closing
A unit of petroleum company Sunoco Inc. filed a lawsuit in bankruptcy
court against an affiliate of GenTek Inc. that is related to sulfur gas
processing services at a plant in Delaware, Dow Jones reported. GenTek
plans to close the plant in September. Sunoco Inc. is seeking to force
GenTek affiliate General Chemical Corp. to comply with terms of a
contract, which the lawsuit said General Chemical intends to breach,
according to court documents filed on Thursday with the U.S. Bankruptcy
Court in Wilmington, Del. Bankrupt GenTek filed a motion in its chapter
11 case on March 4 seeking to begin winding down operations at the
Delaware plant and eventually close it. The companies filed for chapter
11 bankruptcy protection with 31 affiliates, listing assets of $1.2
billion and liabilities of $1.4 billion in the petition, reported the
newswire.
Alterra Healthcare Creditors Object To DIP Financing
Unsecured creditors in the bankruptcy case of Alterra Healthcare Corp.
said the latest proposal for a debtor-in-possession loan would enable
the company's officers to gain control of the company's assets at the
expense of its estate, Dow Jones reported. The remarks were part of an
objection to the financing that the committee of Alterra's unsecured
creditors filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., on
March 5. In the objection to the financing, the unsecured creditors'
committee said Alterra's financing proposal 'appears to be designed with
one goal in mind-to allow a group of insiders to gain control of this
chapter 11 case and ultimately seize the (company's) assets at a minimal
price to the detriment of the (company's) estate and its general
unsecured creditors,' reported the newswire.
Federal-Mogul Has More Time To File Disclosure Statement
Federal-Mogul Corp. won extensions of the time it has to file a
disclosure statement and the time when it has the sole right to obtain
votes for its proposed reorganization plan, Dow Jones reported. The
company filed a proposed chapter 11 reorganization plan earlier this
month, but said it needed more time to form and file its disclosure
statement. The order, signed on Tuesday by Judge Randall J. Newsome of
the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., gives Federal-Mogul until
April 21 to file the disclosure statement. The order also extends the
period during which Federal-Mogul has the exclusive right to get votes
for the plan through Aug. 11, reported the newswire.
Bethlehem Steel Gets OK On $27 Million Sale Breakup Fee
A bankruptcy court on Thursday gave Bethlehem Steel Corp. authority to
pay a $27 million breakup fee to a prospective buyer of substantially
all its assets should the steel company choose to pursue a different
transaction, Dow Jones reported. Bethlehem Steel signed an agreement to
sell its assets to International Steel for $1.5 billion earlier this
month, potentially creating the largest steelmaker in the United States.
WL Ross & Co. organized International Steel in 2002 to acquire
steelmaking assets and restructure them. Along with the breakup fee,
Judge Burton R. Lifland of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan
authorized Bethlehem Steel to reimburse International Steel for up to $5
million of its expenses and approved various auction rules, reported the
newswire.
Magellan Health Sees 2004 Revenue $1.58 Billion
Magellan Health Services Inc. said it expects its revenue to be about
$1.6 billion in fiscal 2003, versus $1.75 billion in the fiscal year
ended in September 2002, Dow Jones reported. The company said it also
expects revenue to fall next year, to $1.58 billion, then climb in
fiscal 2005 to $1.65 billion, according to projections in the company's
reorganization plan, included in a regulatory filing with the Securities
and Exchange Commission on Thursday. The company filed for chapter 11
bankruptcy protection earlier this month, listing assets of $998.9
million and debts of $1.48 billion, reported the newswire.
New Case Management and Electronic Case Files System
Implemented
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas announced
in a press release distributed on Friday the adoption of a new case
management and electronic case files system. This new system, known as
CM/ECF, was developed by the federal Judiciary to replace outdated case
management systems in more than 200 federal courts nationwide. CM/ECF
will provide the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of
Texas with updated and enhanced case management tools, the capability to
store court documents in electronic format and the ability to accept
electronic filings. For additional information, visit the court's web
site at
href='http://www.txnb.uscourts.gov/ecf'>www.txnb.uscourts.gov/ecf.
Venture Holdings Says It Filed for Bankruptcy-court
Protection
Venture Holdings Company LLC filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
as it restructures its debt agreements, Bloomberg News reported. The
company also said in a statement distributed by PR Newswire that it
appointed Joseph Day as chief executive officer. The filing was made on
Friday at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of
Michigan. Day has been a director of Fraser, Mich.-based Venture
Holdings since January, the company said, reported the newswire.
Adelphia Can Move Headquarters to Denver, Bankruptcy Judge
Says
Adelphia Communications Corp. can move to Denver from Coudersport, Pa.,
a bankruptcy judge said, turning aside objections by founder John Rigas
and a shareholders' panel, Bloomberg News reported. U.S. Bankruptcy
Judge Robert Gerber approved the request by Adelphia to lease
about 40,000 square feet of office space in Denver. The company plans to
transfer about 150 of the 1,400 people employed in Coudersport to the
Denver headquarters, including the new management team. Earlier this
month, Gerber approved Adelphia's hiring of two former AT&T
Broadband executives to lead the company, reported the newswire.
ENRON
Enron Opposes Panel's Request To Sue Whitewing
Enron Corp. on Friday objected to its creditors' committee's attempt to
sue Whitewing, saying the energy company could recover for all of its
creditors nearly $1 billion from the off-book partnership in a less
time-consuming and more cost-efficient way, Dow Jones reported. The
official committee of unsecured creditors, in a motion filed in January
with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, seeks to recoup roughly the
same amount of money through, among other means, a 'substantive
consolidation' of Whitewing entities with Enron's bankrupt estates. A
hearing on the creditors' committee's request is scheduled for Tuesday,
reported the newswire.
Enron's Ex-CFO Must Face Investors' Lawsuits
Former Enron CFO Andrew Fastow must face lawsuits seeking more than $29
billion over the company's collapse, a federal judge ruled, Bloomberg
News reported. U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon in Houston denied
Fastow's motion on Monday to dismiss investors' and employees' claims
that he 'masterminded'' a fraud that led to the downfall of what had
been the world's largest energy trader. Fastow also has pleaded innocent
to fraud and money laundering charges. He faces decades behind bars if
he's convicted, prosecutors say, reported the newswire.
WorldCom Unit, Noteholders Seek To Postpone Debentures
Redemption
A subsidiary of WorldCom Inc., a committee of noteholders and the
trustee for the notes filed a request on Friday seeking a bankruptcy
court's approval to postpone the redemption of some notes, according to
a motion obtained by Dow Jones Newswires. Subsidiary MCI Communications
Corp. and an unofficial noteholders' committee disagree about whether
the stay on WorldCom's bankruptcy case should apply to the redemption of
the debentures. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan has scheduled a
hearing on the proposed postponement for April 8, reported the
newswire.
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