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October 12, 2005
id='1'>Delphi’s
Steve Miller: GM Also Faces Chapter 11
Delphi CEO Steve Miller said that he was trying to secure
guaranteed contracts
worth $1 billion a month from GM as part of Delphi’s
restructuring plan,
but a GM spokesman said that
href='http://www.autoindustry.co.uk/news/industry_news/11-10-05_9'>the
company was unlikely to guarantee a minimum of sales every
month, the
U.K. Auto Industry reported yesterday. GM shares fell nearly
10 percent
yesterday on concerns over its potential obligations in respect of
Delphi’s
pension fund. Ford and DaimlerChrysler shares were also affected in
the light
of potential supply problems following Delphi’s chapter 11
application.
Standard & Poor’s lowered GM’s debt further into
"junk" status
territory, and Moody’s placed GM under review for a possible
downgrade.
In other news, Delphi said yesterday that it hopes to emerge from
bankruptcy
in early 2007, explaining that the process will include the
consolidation
or divestiture of a significant number of its U.S. plants, the
Louisville-Courier
Journal reported yesterday. Judge Robert Drain signaled
early in
the hearing that he would
href='http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051012/BUSINESS/510120386'>extend
an order allowing Delphi to continue paying salaries and benefits to
employees.
A temporary order to do so was granted Saturday, when the auto
supplier filed
for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors. That order was
due to
expire at the end of yesterday’s hearing. "It makes sense
to extend"
the order, the judge said. Delphi could shift some of its pension
obligations
to the federal agency as part of its restructuring. But agency
spokesman Jeffrey
Speicher said the agency would insure no more than $4.1 billion, or
less than
half the total necessary to meet Delphi’s obligations to
retirees.
id='2'>Hedge
Fund Buys 9 Percent of Delphi Stake
Appaloosa Partners
disclosed
the 9.3 percent stake in Delphi in a Securities and Exchange
Commission filing,
CNN Money reported yesterday. The filing did not name the price paid
for 52
million shares of the world’s largest auto parts manufacturer,
or when the shares
were purchased. Published reports identify Appaloosa as a fund that
specializes
in investing in distressed companies. David Tepper, its president, was
the former
head of junk bond trading at Goldman Sachs. Share ownership tracking
service
LionShares reports that the filing puts Delphi as Appaloosa’s
14th largest holding,
equal to 1.1 percent of its portfolio. It also said that Appaloosa is
now the
second largest holder of Delphi stock, behind only Capital Research
& Management
Co., which manages the American Funds family of mutual funds. That
firm has
a 12.8 stake in Delphi.
href='http://money.cnn.com/2005/10/12/news/fortune500/delphi_hedgefund/index.htm'>Read
the full story.
id='3'>Nissan Apologizes
for Asbestos Use
Japan’s
Nissan Motor apologized
for falsely declaring in the 1990s that it had stopped using asbestos
in its
vehicles, TodayOnline.com reported yesterday, but the company said
that it had
no plan to recall the vehicles as the asbestos posed no health risks
and the
sealing part in which it was used was not on a government list of
components
in which asbestos is banned. Nissan found that parts containing
asbestos were
installed in 165,804 vehicles produced in Japan between 1995-99 for
the domestic
market. The models were mostly commercial vehicles. Nissan said that
it only
recently become aware of the asbestos after being informed by
Tokyo-based parts
supplier Mahle Tennex, noting that the asbestos was contained in a
sealing part
within air filters and oil coolers.
href='http://www.todayonline.com/articles/77579.asp'>Read
the full story.
id='4'>Spokane
Diocese Releases Bankruptcy Plan
The Catholic
Diocese of Spokane,
Wash., will sell its headquarters and the home of Bishop William
Skylstad to
settle sexual abuse claims, according to a plan filed in U.S.
Bankruptcy Court
Monday, KVEW TV reported. But the issue of who owns individual
parishes, schools
and other Catholic property in the diocese is still unresolved, so the
plan
carries few specifics on the amount of money that would be available
for victims.
Diocese attorney Shaun Cross acknowledged that the plan to
emerge from
bankruptcy does not include the usual financial worth information
because the
issue of assets is not decided. But he says the plan "creates a
framework
for the resolution of all claims in a global way." Skylstad, in
Rome on
church business, issued a statement saying the plan deals justly with
the claims
of clergy sex abuse, while allowing the Spokane Diocese to continue
its ministry.
id='5'>Epixtar
Corp. Files for Chapter 11
Epixtar Corp. filed
for chapter
11 in the Miami Federal Bankruptcy Court on Oct. 6, 2005, PRNewswire
reported
yesterday. A similar filing was made in the Philippines on Oct. 7,
2005 on behalf
of the company’s Philippine subsidiary. Epixtar is a
communications and marketing
services group. Epixtar’s corporate office is in Miami and it
currently has
three contact centers in the United States and one contact center in
Manila,
Philippines.
href='http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/10-11-2005/0004166031&EDATE'>Read
more.
id='6'>Levitz
Home Furnishings Inc. to Restructure
Levitz Home
Furnishings Inc.
today announced that it has filed for protection under chapter 11 in
the Southern
District of New York, PRNewswire reported today. The Woodbury,
N.Y.-based company
will continue to operate its retail furniture stores in the ordinary
course
of business while it restructures. The company has arranged and sought
approval
for a $90 million in DIP credit facility led by GE Commercial Finance,
which
includes an incremental credit facility of $25 million arranged by
Prentice
Capital Management LP and provided by its affiliates. These facilities
will
provide the company with sufficient liquidity to operate its business
on an
ongoing basis.
href='http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/10-11-2005/0004166173&EDATE'>Read
the full story.