Judge Martin Glenn yesterday approved a bankruptcy-exit plan proposed by CGG Group, a French oil-services company, and required the company to improve the transparency of its executive compensation, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Following a hearing yesterday at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, Judge Glenn signed off on the plan, part of a multinational restructuring that aims to shave about $2 billion in debt from the company’s books. However, a fight over the CGG’s transparency and disclosure practices—fundamental components of the bankruptcy system that are required by law—took up much of an otherwise routine hearing. The U.S. Trustee lodged a last-minute objection to CGG’s bankruptcy plan, demanding more information about the identities and compensation of top executives and others who will stay with the company when it eventually emerges from chapter 11 protection. Andrea Schwartz, a lawyer for the U.S. Trustee, said extensive negotiations with CGG’s attorneys had failed to produce acceptable disclosures. Judge Glenn largely agreed. During yesterday’s hearing, he criticized the company’s disclosures, likening the information supplied in a complex web of earlier public documents to a “Where’s Waldo” search. The judge ruled that all officers and directors of CGG’s U.S. affiliates must be named and that CGG must also provide a range or some other description of their total compensation. Other than the U.S. trustee’s objection, CGG’s debt restructuring has been largely consensual, with creditors voting overwhelmingly in favor of the plan.
