A bankruptcy judge yesterday allowed Ormet Corp., an aluminum producer, to continue minimal operations through the end of November as it attempts to complete a sale of its Burnside, La., facility, Dow Jones Newswires reported yesterday. Absent this decision from Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath, Almatis Inc. could have backed out of its offer to purchase the Burnside facility for $37 million. The sale of that facility would preserve more than 200 jobs and begin to repay the bankruptcy loan provided to Ormet to fund its Chapter 11 case. That sale could close by the end of the month. Judge Walrath approved a budget that will permit Ormet to continue to pay some expenses as they come due, which will support an orderly winddown of the company and preventing a forced immediate shut down. She declined for now to convert the case to a chapter 7 liquidation, which would have placed a trustee in control of the company going forward.
