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Greensill Creditors Vote for Australian Liquidation, Probes of Directors to Follow

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Creditors of Greensill Capital Pty, the Australian parent of the collapsed British supply chain financier, voted on Thursday to liquidate the company, its administrator said, triggering deeper investigations into the conduct of its directors, Reuters reported. Grant Thornton (GT), the liquidator appointed for the Australian parent and its operating companies in Britain, said the majority of 26 creditors owed A$4.6 billion ($3.6 billion) by the collapsed financier voted for liquidation. “The liquidators will continue to identify and realise available assets, monitor developments in relation to the administrations of Greensill UK and the Greensill Bank AG, and continue their investigations in relation to Greensill Capital Pty,” GT said in a statement. The creditor vote comes as prosecutors in the German city of Bremen raided the offices and homes of Greensill bankers, including the residences of five officials suspected of possible wrongdoing. In March, German regulator BaFin filed a criminal complaint with prosecutors over an audit that found Greensill Bank, a standalone entity owned by the Australian parent, could not provide evidence of receivables on its balance sheet. The German lender collapsed days later. As part of the liquidation of the Australian parent, further investigations will be prepared into the conduct of Greensill officers, and their findings reported to the Australian corporate regulator, GT told creditors in an April 15 report.

Brazilian Miner Samarco Files U.S. Bankruptcy After Creditors Sue

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Brazilian iron ore miner Samarco Mineração SA filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection Monday, after initiating similar proceedings in Brazil earlier this month amid mounting creditor litigation, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Samarco needed to seek protection under chapter 15 of the U.S. bankruptcy code, as well as Brazilian insolvency laws, after bondholders and bank lenders filed lawsuits in both countries to freeze and start the process of seizing the company’s assets, according to a sworn declaration by Chief Financial Officer Cristina Morgan Cavalcanti. One of the largest miners in the world, Samarco resumed operations in December, according to court filings, after ceasing operations in 2015 after the collapse of the Fundão dam in the municipality of Mariana, in Minas Gerais state. The dam failure killed 19 people and led to an environmental disaster that released a torrent of sludge that buried rural villages. The company, a joint venture between mining giants Vale SA and BHP Billiton Ltd., stopped making payments on its financial debt in 2016, including more than $4.6 billion in debt denominated in dollars to banks and bondholders, according to Ms. Cavalcanti. Beyond Samarco’s dollar debt, the company also has significant debt denominated in Brazilian reais, including obligations to owners BHP and Vale.

China’s Luckin Coffee Nets $260 Million Private-Equity Investment

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Luckin Coffee Inc. said it has secured a $260 million investment from two Chinese private-equity firms, funding that the troubled coffee chain operator said would support its debt restructuring and help pay a U.S. regulatory penalty over allegations it fabricated sales to make its growth appear stronger, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The investment is led by Centurium Capital, a Luckin shareholder, which has agreed to invest $240 million in senior convertible preferred shares, Luckin said. Fellow shareholder Joy Capital has agreed to invest $10 million in senior preferred shares. The private-equity firms also have an option to increase their investment by $150 million. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including completion of a planned restructuring of Luckin’s $460 million senior secured notes through a court-supervised scheme of arrangement in the Cayman Islands, similar to chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. The investment will help pay off a $180 million settlement it struck last year to resolve accounting fraud charges brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC said in December that Luckin fabricated more than $300 million in retail sales from at lea st April 2019 through January 2020.

Chilean Car Seller Automotores Gildemeister Files for Bankruptcy

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Latin American vehicle importer and distributor Automotores Gildemeister SpA has filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. with a prepackaged reorganization plan to cut about $200 million in debt, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The Santiago, Chile-based company, along with 12 affiliates, filed for chapter 11 Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. The privately held company had warned earlier this month that it would file for reorganization in the U.S. with support from its international noteholders. The bankruptcy includes its businesses in Chile, Uruguay and Brazil, and excludes the operations in Peru and Costa Rica. Automotores Gildemeister, or AG, imports, distributes and sells new and used vehicles, provides maintenance and repair services, and brokers insurance and financing services. The company sells 12 brands, primarily Hyundai, through 70 company-owned vehicle dealerships, including 46 in Chile, 19 in Peru, 3 in Uruguay and 2 in Costa Rica. It also distributes vehicles to 158 franchised dealerships in Chile and Peru. The company has struggled financially due the Covid-19 pandemic and related government-mandated lockdowns, the sustained increase in the currency exchange rate in recent years and social unrest in Chile in October 2019 that have sapped consumer confidence and eroded demand for vehicles, according to court papers.

Argentine Power-Plant Owner Stoneway Files Bankruptcy Over Nearly $1 Billion Debt

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Stoneway Capital Ltd., the owner of four power plants in Argentina, filed for bankruptcy in New York on Wednesday after an Argentine Supreme Court ruling against the company prolonged the closure of one of its generation facilities, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Stoneway missed an interest payment on March 1, 2020, and soon after entered forbearance agreements with its creditors, according to a declaration filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York by David Mack, Stoneway’s sole director. The company has struggled to meet its debt obligations and working capital needs and negotiated a debt restructuring to convert $271 million in loans to equity, according to a declaration by Mr. Mack. The proposal, however, fell through after an Argentine court ordered the company to shut down operations at its Matheu facility in March. The ruling followed a higher-court decision in December in favor of an environmental group that had been fighting the construction and operation of the plant since 2017, Mr. Mack said.

Greensill Capital’s U.S. Unit Files for Chapter 11 Protection

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Greensill Capital’s U.S. subsidiary filed for bankruptcy protection, extending the U.K. financing startup’s insolvency proceedings to New York, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Greensill Capital Inc., owned by the London-based parent, filed a chapter 11 petition yesterday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, listing up to $50 million in estimated assets against up to $100 million in liabilities, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in employee obligations. Most of the U.S. unit’s 70 employees were terminated last week, according to court papers. The U.K. company filed for insolvency protection earlier this month after losing credit insurance that was critical to the complex business of supply-chain finance, a form of short-term corporate lending. Greensill made supply-chain loans to companies, then packaged them up into notes, selling those on to investors.

Buenos Aires Bondholders Sue Over $7 Billion Debt Logjam

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Bondholders filed suit in New York on Tuesday against Argentina's Buenos Aires province after talks broke down over restructuring $7.1 billion in provincial debt as the country’s leftist government seeks a larger accommodation with the International Monetary Fund to regain market access, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. GoldenTree Asset Management LP and other investment firms sought a judgment in the U.S. District Court in New York over the province’s failure to make debt payments stretching back to April of last year. Since then, the investors said, Buenos Aires “has chosen to follow a course of confrontation and default with its international bondholders rather than one of negotiation and compromise.” Buenos Aires stands apart from other Argentine provinces such as Córdoba, Salta and Entre Ríos that have come to terms with creditors this year. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Argentina signaled it would seek to restructure its sovereign and municipal debt obligations and reached an agreement in August to restructure $65 billion in sovereign bonds. The Buenos Aires Finance Ministry said Tuesday it had been holding talks with creditors in good faith, but their lawsuit now will make it more difficult to reach a resolution.