Energy Future Holdings Corp., the biggest power company in Texas, won a ruling yesterday in a $431 million dispute with its noteholders that should bolster its plans for emerging from bankruptcy, Reuters reported yesterday. The ruling by Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi denied noteholders an avenue to collect a "make-whole" payment from a unit of Energy Future for redeeming securities early. Energy Future redeemed first-lien notes after it filed for bankruptcy in April 2014, and some noteholders sued for the make-whole payment. In his 39-page ruling, Judge Sontchi determined that the harm to noteholders in allowing them to pursue the make-whole payment did not outweigh the harm to Energy Future. He said a ruling in favor of the noteholders could have exposed the company to similar claims from other creditors and the cost could have run to approximately $900 million.
