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November 28, 2005
name='1'>Westpoint
District Court Opinion Issued
The U.S. District
Court issued
an opinion asserting that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court’s earlier
determination
that the objecting first lien lenders’ claims can be satisfied
through the in-kind
distribution of securities in the context of the sale of the
Debtors’ assets
pursuant to §363(b) of the Bankruptcy Code and certain related
determinations
are reversed, certain aspects of the sale order are vacated, and this
matter
is remanded to the Bankruptcy Court for further proceedings consistent
with
this opinion, BankruptcyData.com reported today.
id='2'>Judge
Seeks Program to Teach About Credit Cards
A federal bankruptcy
judge
in Witchita, Kan., is trying to set up a local program to educate
people, particularly
young people, about the dangers of credit cards, the Associated Press
reported
yesterday. Every day, Bob Nugent, the chief U.S. bankruptcy
judge for
Kansas, deals with cases involving people who can’t pay their
credit card bills.
Nugent hopes to establish a local version of CARE, for Credit Abuse
Resistance
Education, which puts credit card abuse on a par with abusing alcohol
and drugs.
The program started with a bankruptcy judge in Buffalo, N.Y., and is
in place
in some other states.
href='http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/state/13269878.htm'>Read
more.
id='3'>Refco
LLC Files Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Petition
Refco Inc.’s
flagship business
Refco LLC filed a chapter 7 bankruptcy petition late Friday, saying it
had more
than $2 billion in public customer funds and property,
CattleNetwork.com reported
Saturday. The filing was made under the terms of a sale agreement
under which
Man Financial Inc. of the U.K. agrees to buy most of Refco LLC’s
assets.
href='http://www.cattlenetwork.com/content.asp?contentid=14071'>Read
more.
id='4'>Merck
to Cut 7,000 Jobs, Close 5 Manufacturing Plants
Merck & Co.,
whose earnings
have dropped three straight years, plans to cut 7,000 jobs and close
five plants
to trim costs by as much as $4 billion through 2010, Bloomberg News
reported
today. Chief Executive Officer Richard Clark, who has been working on
the plan
since he took the helm of the third-largest U.S. drugmaker last May,
said the
actions were a “first step” for the company in a statement
today. Whitehouse
Station, N.J.-based Merck said that the cuts represent about 11
percent of the
company’s global workforce of 62,000. Merck is expected to have
pretax costs
of as much as $400 million in 2005 as a result of the restructuring.
Costs will
be as much as $1 billion in 2006, the company said.
href='http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a8bwWBeI.OGA&refer=…'>Read
more.
Airlines
A hearing on Delta
Air Lines’
bid to get out from its contract with its pilots resumes Monday in
federal bankruptcy
court in New York, KWTX-TV reported today. The pilots have balked at
Delta’s
demand for $325 million in concessions. They say that it adds up to
more like
$500 million when discontinued pension contributions are factored in.
Delta
says that without the concessions, it could go out of business.
Bankruptcy Judge
Prudence Carter Beatty has criticized both sides.
id='6'>Regional
Airlines Soar to Profitability
At a time when the
nation’s
major airlines are being buffeted by skyrocketing fuel costs, heavy
competition
and bankruptcies, some regional carriers are posting growing profits
and looking
to expand, the Associated Press reported today. Phoenix-based Mesa Air
Group
is one of the high-fliers. It plans to go to Hawaii early next year,
adding
planes for an inter-island service that will compete with Hawaiian and
Aloha
Airlines. The regional airline sector is growing and profitable thanks
to contracts
with the major airlines—which guarantee minimum amounts of
revenue and
pay some costs—and because larger airlines are turning over
smaller routes
to concentrate on those with heavier traffic.
href='http://www.suntimes.com/output/business/cst-fin-fill28.html'>Read
more.
Airways Warns It May Not Perform As Expected
Stock in US Airways
was up
47 cents Friday, closing at $32.97, despite a warning that it faces
"significant
challenges" and may not perform as expected, the Associated Press
reported.
Pennsylvania’s dominant airline was acquired by America West
Holdings in September
as part of its strategy to emerge from more than two years of chapter
11 bankruptcy
protection. The combined company retained the US Airways name. While
the acquisition
will result in certain synergies and growth opportunities in the
future, the
company says its significant operating losses have not subsided and
will likely
continue into 2006.
id='8'>Alitalia
Stock Plummets Over Fears for Future
Prospects for
struggling Italian
airline Alitalia looked bleak as the price of shares in the company
plummeted
by 30 percent last week and analysts began to speculate that its best
chance
of survival would be a merger with Air France/KLM, AFP reported
yesterday. The
company kicked off a one-billion-euro (1.17-billion-dollar) share
issue earlier
this month, which has sparked the share price collapse as investors
question
whether the recapitalization will be sufficient to assure the future
viability
of the group.
href='http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=81207'>Read more.
id='9'>Lightyear
Network Solutions is Back on the Upswing
Lightyear Network
Solutions
LLC has had its share of ups and downs since it was founded in 1993 by
Louisville
businessman J. Sherman Henderson III, Business First of
Louisville reported
today. But the Louisville company, which emerged from chapter 11
bankruptcy
protection in March 2004, has proven that it not only can endure the
tough times,
but can find a way to flourish. In fall 2003, while still in
bankruptcy court
proceedings, Lightyear Network Solutions branched into the residential
sector
with a new division called Lightyear Alliance. Led by
Henderson’s son, Josh
Henderson, Lightyear Alliance has developed into a $7.5 million arm in
just
two years.
href='http://pacific.bizjournals.com/industries/high_tech/telecom/2005/11/28/…'>Read
more.
id='10'>Body
Armor Tycoon in Bankruptcy
Richard Davis, a
Detroit
pizzeria owner who said he was wounded in a shootout with robbers,
invented
soft body armor that cops could wear as easily as an undershirt, the
Detroit
Free Press reported today. Davis parlayed a $70 roll of nylon and
the straps
from his car’s seat belts into a $50-million-a-year business
providing thousands
of American cops, soldiers - even President George W. Bush - with
light, bullet-resistant
vests. But now Davis finds himself in bankruptcy, along with Second
Chance Body
Armor, the northern Michigan business he founded. The shooting of two
police
officers and the lawsuits that followed revealed that Second Chance
kept selling
vests despite mounting evidence of deadly flaws. The U.S. Justice
Department
has launched a criminal investigation.
href='http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/nation/1327…'>Read
more.
id='11'>Georgia
Co. Makes Bid for Bankrupt Environmental Elements
A maker of
boiler-cleaning
equipment for power plants has made a $4.5 million offer for the
assets of bankrupt
Environmental Elements Corp, the Baltimore Business Journal
reported
today. The structure of the deal means that the bid by Clyde Bergemann
US could
potentially trigger competing bids and an auction that could drive the
price
even higher. Baltimore-based Environmental Elements filed chapter 11
bankruptcy
in July. After years of struggling financially, the firm defaulted on
its bank
line of credit in 2004, and even after granting the bank rights to the
lease
on its Koppers Street headquarters, it could not meet the terms of its
new credit
agreement. Still, "a number of parties" approached
Environmental Elements,
which makes air pollution control equipment, in hopes of buying some
or all
of its assets out of bankruptcy, said Lawrence Coppel, the
firm’s bankruptcy
attorney.
href='http://portland.bizjournals.com/industries/economic_view/bankruptcies/2…'>Read
more.
id='12'>Schlotzky’s
Deli Owner Files for Bankruptcy
Jerry Williams II
of Fort Smith,
Ark., the owner of Schlotzky’s Deli, recently filed for chapter
7 bankruptcy
protection and listed $1.27 million in debt and $673,000 in assets,
Arkansas
Business reported today. He reported generating $13,000 in income
in 2004
and $11,000 for the first nine months of 2005.
International
id='13'>Dutch
Retailer to Pay Shareholders $1.1B
Dutch retailer Ahold
NV said
today that it has agreed to pay $1.1 billion to settle a class action
lawsuit
brought by shareholders in the United States after the company’s
2003 accounting
scandal, the Associated Press reported today. Ahold said that the
settlement
would avoid costly court cases and the company had "attempted to
make fair
restitution without endangering the continuity of the company or its
business
strategy for the coming years."
href='http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--netherlands-ah…'>Read
the full story.
id='14'>Australia’s
Costello Rules Out Compo Tax Break for James Hardie
Australia’s Federal Treasurer
href='http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200511/s1518389.htm'>Peter
Costello has ruled out giving James Hardie Industries tax breaks on
compensation
payments to asbestos victims, ABC News Online reported today.
The company
is still to sign off on a compensation package for victims, with the
New South
Wales Government ready to introduce laws tomorrow to force the
company into
a deal if an agreement can not be reached before then. Costello has
also called
on the New South Wales Government not to give immunity to directors
of James
Hardie against possible civil prosecution. He says that the company
has to
take responsibility for its product.
Meanwhile, the
href='http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17388314%…'>Australian
Federal Government has been urged by the main construction union to
boycott
James Hardie products until a compensation deal for asbestos
victims is
complete, the AAP reported today. James Hardie has already agreed to
compensate
victims, but has taken almost 12 months to sign off on the deal.
In related news,
href='http://www.abc.net.au/news/items/200511/1518098.htm?southeastsa'>South
Australian Attorney General Michael Atkinson says that the state
government
will try to push the dust diseases bill through Parliament this
week to
compensate the families of asbestos victims, ABC News reported
today. State
independent MP Nick Xenophon has urged the bill be passed this week
following
a plea by a 42-year-old mother of three, Melissa Haylock, who has
been diagnosed
with mesothelioma. Atkinson says the government will do all it can
to see
the bill into law by the end of this week.
id='15'>Tokyo’s
Huser Considering Bankruptcy
The president of
Huser Management
Ltd., the Tokyo owner of 12 buildings whose structural strength data
were found
to have been falsified, told the Japanese construction ministry Friday
he was
considering filing for bankruptcy, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported
yesterday.
Susumu Ojima reportedly asked the Construction and Transport Ministry
during
a hearing to provide public funds to cover the costs of reconstructing
the buildings.
If the company does not receive the funds, Ojima said that he would
consider
filing for bankruptcy in mid-December after discussions with his
lawyer.
href='http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20051127TDY02010.htm'>Read
more.
id='16'>Credit
Cards Losing Popularity in U.K.
Spending on credit
cards
in Britain is set to fall this Christmas for the first time in 10
years, according
to the Association of Payment Clearing Services (APACS), ABC Money
U.K. reported
Friday. However, total spending during the season is set to go up,
APACS said.
The organization said that spending in December is expected to rise by
11 percent
to £48.7 billion compared to last year and debit cards will
account for
a spending of as much £17.8 billion, or a 20 percent increase,
compared
to last year. Spending on credit cards will come down by 3.5 percent
to around
£11 billion.
href='http://www.abcmoney.co.uk/news/2520051418.htm'>Read
more.
id='17'>2.6
Million Japanese Firms on Hook for Asbestos
In a decision certain
to
trigger protests, the Japanese government plans to make practically
every company—nearly
2.6 million firms in total—jointly share in the national effort
to compensate
sufferers of asbestos-related diseases, Asahi.com reported Saturday.
Even companies
that have never dealt with asbestos, such as financial entities or
information
technology companies, will have to pay. Starting in fiscal 2007, all
firms that
belong to the government-operated workers’ accident compensation
insurance program—namely
all firms with at least one employee—will be required to pitch
in. The
drive aims to bring in around 10 billion yen a year until fiscal 2010.
href='http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200511260150.html'>Read
more.