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December 22, 2005
id='1'>Creditors Line Up after Calpine's Bankruptcy Filing
Calpine Corp.'s creditors lined up on Wednesday for what experts
expect will be a protracted fight over the power company's deeply
indebted assets, though Calpine's operations are likely to change little
after its bankruptcy filing, Reuters reported yesterday. Calpine, one of
the top power producers in the United States, and many of its
subsidiaries filed chapter 11 petitions Tuesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy
Court in Manhattan, the eighth-largest filing in the past 25 years.
Bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland on Wednesday approved $500
million in
secured debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing to keep San Jose,
Calif.-based company operating. He also approved motions to allow
Calpine to continue to pay vendors and employees. Calpine claims $26.6
billion in assets and $22.5 billion in total debts and has received
commitments for up to $2 billion of secured DIP financing from Deutsche
Bank and Credit Suisse First Boston. The company is due back in court
Jan. 25.
href='http://today.reuters.com/business/newsarticle.aspx?type=ousiv&storyID=2005-12-21T225157Z_01_EIC962397_RTRIDST_0_BUSINESSPRO-UTILITIES-CALPINE-DC.XML'>Read
more.
In related news, BankruptcyData.com reported that Calpine filed an
emergency motion seeking a bankruptcy court order for interim and final
orders authorizing the debtors to continue to honor pre-petition trading
contracts, enter into new post-petition trading contracts and pledge
collateral under pre-petition and post-petition trading contracts for a
final order authorizing the assumption of pre-petition trading
contracts, and for an ex parte bridge order authorizing interim
relief
pending a first-day hearing.
id='2'>Owens Agreement Approval Sought
Owens Corning filed
a motion seeking bankruptcy court approval to file its motion
for an order authorizing the debtors to file unredacted
versions of the company's motion for approval of the share purchase
agreement by and among Owens Corning, Owens Corning Japan Ltd., Asahi
Fiber Glass Co. Ltd. and Asahi Glass Co., BankruptcyData.com reported
today. The court will consider approving the share purchase agreement on
Jan. 30.
Airlines
id='3'>Northwest Says $2B Needed to Exit Bankruptcy
Northwest Airlines
said it would need at least $2 billion in fresh funding to exit
bankruptcy protection and finance new aircraft in a bid to return to
profitability, MSNBC reported yesterday. The carrier declined to comment
on talks with potential lenders, but the funding needs, outlined in new
court documents, offer fresh evidence that Northwest may seek
debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing to exit bankruptcy. Delta Air
Lines, its larger rival, filed for bankruptcy on the same day as
Northwest in September, and has secured $2.2 billion in DIP financing
from General Electric, Morgan Stanley and others to support a planned
exit in late 2006 or early 2007. Northwest elected to work with the $1.4
billion in cash it had at the time of filing, but conceded in the
filings that liquidity was falling as it entered the traditionally slow
winter travel season. Read
more.
id='4'>UAL Reports $187M Net Loss for November
United Airlines'
parent company reported a $187 million net loss Wednesday for November,
citing continuing reorganization charges and high fuel costs as its
three-year bankruptcy overhaul draws to a finish, the Associated Press
reported yesterday. The deficit more than doubled the $87.5 million net
loss of a year earlier. However, UAL Corp. said it had an $8.9 million
operating profit and lower operating costs than a year earlier despite
the spike in fuel prices. UAL added that costs for its mainline unit
were down 1 percent -- or 15 percent excluding fuel -- while passenger
revenue rose 15 percent to $1.64 billion from $1.42 billion a year
earlier. ''These solid results are evidence of real progress in our work
to make United competitive and resilient,'' CEO Glenn Tilton said in a
statement discussing the company's separate regulatory filing.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-UAL-Results.html'>Read
more.
id='5'>Delphi Says Shareholders Unlikely to Get Anything
Delphi Corp. said
Wednesday in a regulatory filing that a shareholder request to form an
equity committee in its bankruptcy case is ''premature'' and that it's
''highly unlikely'' that holders of common shares will receive anything
in the reorganization, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The
Troy, Mich.-based auto parts maker said it believes its shares are
worthless. The company asked the trustee to hold off on appointing an
equity committee until a meeting of creditors scheduled to be held in
February 2006.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Delphi-Bankruptcy.html'>Read
more.
id='6'>Kaiser Aluminum Restructuring Plans Confirmed
Kaiser Aluminum has
announced that in furtherance of its overall restructuring effort, which
focuses the company's future primarily on its fabricated products
business, the bankruptcy court overseeing its chapter 11 case confirmed
its previously filed liquidating plans for four company commodity
subsidiaries, BankruptcyData.com reported yesterday. Pursuant to the
court's order, the four liquidating commodity subsidiaries are
authorized to make partial distributions to certain creditors, while
reserving sufficient amounts for future distributions until the court
resolves certain outstanding disputes among the creditors of these
subsidiaries and for the payment of administrative and priority claims
and trust expenses. After such reserves, the partial distribution is
expected to total approximately $430 million of which, pursuant to the
liquidating plans, approximately $196 million will be paid to the
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) and $202 million will be
paid to the indenture trustees for the senior notes for subsequent
distribution to holders of the senior notes.
id='7'>Florida Condo Developer Files for Bankruptcy
A real estate
development company whose investors include Major League Baseball
players Edgar Renteria and Luis Castillo with plans to build a trendy
five-story South Beach, Fla., condominium, Westside Lofts, filed for
chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Miami, the
Miami Herald reported today. The move comes amid legal battles in
Miami-Dade Circuit Court between the development company and its lender
and general contractor. Attorney John Kozyak filed papers late
Tuesday on behalf of Westside Lofts LLC seeking bankruptcy protection
from creditors in a bid to reorganize the company. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge
A. Jay Cristol is presiding over the case.
href='http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13460771.htm'>Read
more.
id='8'>Gallery Under Legal Fire Declares Bankruptcy
New York's
Berry-Hill Galleries filed for bankruptcy two weeks ago in federal
court, listing more than 100 creditors, debts ranging as high as $50
million and assets of $50 million to $100 million, the New York
Times
reported today. The bankruptcy filing lists Christie's as Berry-Hill's
largest creditor, with a $14.02 million disputed claim. Its directors,
James and Frederick D. Hill, are at the center of a scandal since an
ill-fated auction at Christie's in May. In a lawsuit filed in state
court in August, creditors charge that the Hills and associates of
theirs bid on 43 works in that sale that the gallery either owned or had
a direct financial interest in through another entity that Berry-Hill
controls. The pending cases are not the first time Berry-Hill has faced
legal action.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/22/arts/22auct.html'>Read
more.
id='9'>Appeals Court Bars Sale of Illinois Casino License
A federal appeals
court on Wednesday barred the state from auctioning the gambling license
it stripped a day earlier from bankrupt Emerald Casino Inc. until the
court decides a separate appeal from the Chicago suburb of Rosemont,
which was to be the site of Emerald's casino, the Associated Press
reported today. The Illinois Gaming Board on Tuesday voted unanimously
to take back the state's only unused casino license from Emerald after a
revocation process that spanned several years. The Seventh U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that the state can't sell or reissue
the license until the court decides Rosemont's appeal of an earlier
ruling denying the suburb's request to prevent the state from revoking
the license. A bankruptcy judge previously denied Rosemont's request to
bar the state from stripping Emerald's license, and a U.S. District
Court judge later upheld that decision. Rosemont appealed to the Seventh
Circuit, which has yet to rule on the matter.
href='http://www.sj-r.com/sections/news/stories/74314.asp'>Read
more.
id='10'>Courtney Love to Sell Nirvana Rights
Rocker Courtney
Love is reportedly going broke and wants to sell her rights to the
Nirvana back catalogue, left to her by her late husband and Nirvana's
lead singer Kurt Cobain, FemaleFirstco.uk reported today. The troubled
rocker, who has been battling drug addiction for the past year, is on
the verge of bankruptcy and is hoping to cash in on the extensive
collection of songs, which includes classic tracks 'Smells Like Teen
Spirit', 'Come As You Are' and 'All Apologies.' Love is reportedly
looking for $100 million for her rights to the music.
International
id='11'>Varig Protects Fleet from Seizure in U.S. Bankruptcy
Ruling
Viacao Aerea
Rio-Grandense SA, Latin America's largest airline, will be able to keep
its fleet intact until at least Jan. 12 so long as it makes initial
payments to plane leasing companies this month, a U.S. judge ruled,
Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Judge Robert Drain of the U.S.
Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York declined requests
from AWAS Aviation Services Inc. and other owners of Varig's 77 jets to
get back their planes for nonpayment of leases and 'cannibalization' of
parts. The decision leaves in place an injunction against jet seizure
issued Nov. 9.
id='12'>London Media Retailer MVC Files for Bankruptcy
London-based DVD
and CD retailer MVC, previously spun out of Woolworths PLC, has filed
for bankruptcy and hired Kroll as administrators, Reuters reported
yesterday. 'The firm has suffered changing market dynamics, (including)
facing competition from supermarkets, increased pirating and Internet
(music) downloads,' a Kroll spokesman said. 'We're not planning to make
any redundancies...and are reviewing options for the business.' MVC has
at least 700 staff at about 70 stores and annual turnover of more than
£100 million.
id='13'>Tokyo Condominium Owners to Seek Huser's Bankruptcy
Owner-residents of
defective condominiums in Tokyo built using falsified construction data
are expected to ask the court to declare the condo developer bankrupt in
an attempt to freeze its assets, sources said Wednesday, the the Yomiuri
Shimbun reported yesterday. The likely move by owner-residents of Grand
Stage Sumiyoshi in Koto Ward, Tokyo, and Grand Stage Higashi-Mukojima in
Sumida Ward, is intended to prevent Huser Ltd. from selling off its real
estate or clearing its bank accounts before compensating residents.
Owner-residents of other Huser-built shaky condos are expected to join
the legal action. Seventeen condos already built and sold by Huser are
known to have been built using falsified structural data.
href='http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20051222TDY02006.htm'>Read
more.