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A U.S. judge yesterday dismissed a lawsuit by Abengoa SA shareholders accusing the Spanish engineering and energy company of conducting a massive accounting fraud between 2013 and 2015 that masked a liquidity crisis and culminated in bankruptcy, Reuters reported. U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos in Manhattan rejected claims, including from a whistleblower, that Abengoa routinely inflated profit margins and prematurely recognized revenue from contracts in order to boost executive bonuses. In a 56-page decision, Ramos said Abengoa did not mislead shareholders by publicly touting its "strict financial discipline," and said receipt of performance-based bonuses did not by itself establish a motive to defraud. He also said shareholders waited too long sue Bank of America, Canaccord Genuity, HSBC and Societe Generale, which helped Abengoa sell 517.5 million euros ($518 million) of American depositary shares in October 2013. The lawsuit covered investors who bought Abengoa's ADS between Oct. 17, 2013, and Aug. 2, 2015, the day before Abengoa surprised the market by seeking a capital increase. Its market value fell an estimated $8.1 billion over the next two days.

The former Mexican airline Interjet has been formally accepted into a domestic bankruptcy process by a district judge. Interjet will now be able to negotiate up to 40 billion pesos in debt (nearly US$2 billion) with its creditors, SimpleFlying.com reported. On Tuesday, a Mexican judge approved the airline Interjet formally entering a bankruptcy process. Interjet ceased operations in December 2020, after a years-long crisis fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Before that, Interjet was the third-largest airline in Mexico, had a fleet composed of 88 aircraft, including 22 Sukhoi Superjet units, and operated under a hybrid business model with both low-cost and legacy-like services. The management of the ill-fated airline celebrated the judge's decision, saying it was great news for the company. The airline will now be able to restructure financially, eyeing a return to the skies in the future, said Carlos del Valle, deputy director of Interjet. The airline will employ the benefits available in the Mexican bankruptcy process to strengthen its financial position, protect and preserve its assets, and organize the company's liabilities, safeguarding the creditors and employees, said Interjet in a statement. Former Interjet employees launched a strike in January 2021 and seized most of the company's assets across the country, including its airport counters at Mexico City Benito Juárez International (MEX).

Creditors filed a lawsuit against Mexican multimedia conglomerate TV Azteca S.A.B. de C.V., controlled by business mogul Ricardo Salinas Pliego, after the company skipped out on payments to U.S. based investors for over a year while continuing to pay other debts in Mexico, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. A trustee representing TV Azteca’s largest U.S.-based creditors, including Fidelity Investments Inc., Contrarian Capital Management LLC and Cyrus Capital Partners LP, asked for roughly $480 million in owed payments and additional damages after negotiations over a payment plan for the company’s foreign debts fell through. The trustee said in its complaint that it had demanded full repayment from the company earlier this year after it missed three interest payments, but TV Azteca hasn’t responded to its requests. In a statement, TV Azteca said that it has maintained dialogue with bondholders and “will continue to do our best to pursue a dialogue that allows all parties to reach a favorable agreement.” “Over the last years, we have carried out a disciplined and healthy financial strategy, thanks to which we have strengthened our capital structure and remained competitive in such complex and challenging times,” the company added. The case was filed in New York state court, which creditors say is the appropriate jurisdiction since their dollar-denominated debts are governed by New York law. Earlier this month, lenders to the multimedia company demanded full payment under a $400 million dollar-denominated bond following more than a year’s worth of missed payments. Fitch Ratings said the company had defaulted on its debt obligations in the spring of 2021, when it first stopped making payments on its foreign debts while continuing to pay local creditors.