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NII Holdings Reaches Restructuring Deal With Creditors

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NII Holdings Inc. yesterday announced a restructuring deal that would put the company in the hands of its bondholders, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. The Latin American Nextel Carrier said that the deal has the support of its major creditors, including hedge-fund manager Aurelius Capital Management and those holding bonds of NII's Luxembourg subsidiaries. The company said that $4.35 billion of its unsecured notes would be converted into equity in a reorganized NII. Aurelius and Capital Research and Management Co. also agreed to backstop a $500 million rights offering, according to a filing with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.

LDK Solar Debt Plans Get U.S. Bankruptcy Court Approval

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LDK Solar Co., the Chinese solar-cell maker that defaulted on its bonds this year, won U.S. court approval of its foreign restructuring, capping an international reorganization, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The restructuring “is believed to be the first judicially approved, multi-jurisdictional debt restructuring of its kind for a China-based corporate group,” said Jessica Boelter, a lawyer for LDK. Xinyu, China-based LDK filed for chapter 15 protection last month, listing about $1.13 billion in debt and $510 million in assets as of May 31.

Suntech Wins U.S. Bankruptcy Court Protection

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A U.S. judge granted bankruptcy protection to China's Suntech Power Holdings Co. over an objection from the remnants of failed solar panel maker Solyndra LLC, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Stuart M. Bernstein on Monday granted recognition to the company under chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code to Suntech's restructuring case in the Cayman Islands. A trust created in the aftermath of Solyndra's collapse had argued the case was filed in bad faith. The trust is suing Suntech for $1.5 billion over alleged antitrust violations.

Bahrains Arcapita Raises 100 Million after Exiting Chapter 11

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Bahrain’s Arcapita Bank BSC has raised $100 million from shareholders to fund a return to dealmaking a year after it emerged from bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported today. The new equity will be used to fund Shariah-compliant private equity and real estate investments in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait, the bank said today. Arcapita will also look at U.S., Asian and European investments at a later stage, it said. Arcapita emerged from bankruptcy in September 2013 after securing a $350 million loan from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The bank filed for bankruptcy in March 2012 after negotiations with creditors over a $1.1 billion syndicated loan failed. Under the terms of its debt restructuring, a new company called RA Holding Corp. was created to manage Arcapita’s $3 billion of assets. Arcapita earned $10.1 million in the fiscal year ended June, mostly from fees for managing RA on behalf of creditors.

OW Bunker Files U.S. Bankruptcy Days After Fraud Report

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Three U.S. units of OW Bunker A/S, the Danish shipping-fuel supplier that went from a $1 billion valuation after its initial public offering in March to bankruptcy last week, sought creditor protection in Connecticut, Bloomberg News reported today. The subsidiaries filed chapter 11 petitions yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Bridgeport, Conn., listing assets of as much as $50 million against debt of as much as $100 million. The parent filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 7 in Denmark, blaming a $125 million internal fraud and risk management failures. OW Bunker, which eight months ago had Denmark’s second-biggest IPO since 2010, stunned investors after saying it would report to police two senior executives at its Singapore unit for alleged fraud. The Noerresundby-based company said it lost another $150 million on bad risk management.

Nortel Bondholders Fight Canadian Retirees for 1 Billion

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Nortel Networks Corp., the defunct telecommunications company, opened a court fight with its U.S. unit over as much as $1 billion that bondholders claim as interest and Canadian retirees say may belong to them, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Nortel contends that the unit, which has operated independently of the Mississauga, Ontario-based parent since filing for bankruptcy in 2009, is overpaying bondholders by about $900 million. The unit has asked a federal judge to approve a deal to pay $1 billion in interest to bondholders including U.S. hedge funds, on top of about $4 billion they are set to collect. The dispute is part of a larger battle over how to divide about $7 billion the unit raised in a court-supervised sale of assets including a trove of patents auctioned in 2011 to a group that included Microsoft Corp., Apple Inc. and Sony Corp.

U.S. Judge Gives Argentina Debt Mediator More Authority in Negotiation

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Daniel Pollack, the court-appointed mediator in the debt dispute between Argentina and holdout creditors, has been given broad authority to grant other investors a seat at the negotiating table in an effort to agree on a comprehensive settlement, Reuters reported today. U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa issued the order yesterday giving Pollack, known officially as the Special Master, the power to choose other investors, who have sued Argentina in hope of securing better settlement terms, to any future negotiating sessions. This order could mute some of Argentina's criticism of the requirement that settling the dispute must be with all bondholders, not just the specific holdouts in the case assigned to Pollack. There are roughly 60 cases filed to Griesa's courtroom alone in the U.S. Southern District court with approximately $10 billion worth of claims by investors who did not accept Argentina's restructuring offers in 2005 and 2010, according to one source familiar with the situation. The holdout investors are led by NML Capital, an affiliate of billionaire Paul Singer's Elliott Management and Aurelius Capital Management, led by Mark Brodsky, formerly of Elliott.

Italian Creditors Lose Bid to Seize Argentina Payment

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A group of Italian investors seeking payment of their defaulted Argentine bonds lost a bid to collect a portion of $539 million the South American country deposited in Bank of New York Mellon Corp., Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The judge overseeing Argentine bond litigation in New York rejected the claim yesterday, ruling sovereign funds located outside the U.S. are immune from seizure. U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa said that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which limits the ability of people to sue foreign governments, doesn’t permit the investors to seize the funds. Argentina defaulted on a record $95 billion in 2001, roiling international markets and limiting the nation’s access to credit. Argentina exchanged 92 percent of its defaulted bonds for new ones, at a sharp discount, in restructurings in 2005 and 2010. The Italian investors said that they bought the bonds when they were issued and didn’t agree to exchange them for the new bonds.

LDK Files Bankruptcy in U.S. Court on China Solar Glut

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LDK Solar Co., the Chinese solar-cell maker that defaulted on its bonds this year, filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. to help carry out restructurings already under way in Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Xinyu, China-based LDK filed for chapter 15 protection yesterday in Wilmington, Del., listing about $1.13 billion in debt and $510 million in assets as of May 31. Affiliates in the U.S., including LDK Solar Systems Inc., sought protection under chapter 11. “Since 2011, the group’s financial performance has significantly deteriorated,” in part due to overcapacity in the solar-cell market, Tammy Fu, a provisional liquidator for the company in Grand Cayman, said in a court filing. LDK is at least the fourth Chinese solar company in little more than a year that has sought bankruptcy or been forced to restructure its debt. Suntech Power Holdings Co., once the world’s largest solar-panel maker, and Zhejiang Topoint Photovoltaic Co. both filed under chapter 15 this year.

South Koreas Pantech Files for Bankruptcy in the U.S.

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Pantech Co., a South Korean mobile-phone maker, has sought the protection of a U.S. court as part of its larger restructuring efforts abroad, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. The company filed for chapter 15 protection at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Atlanta on Thursday. In August, the company filed for the equivalent of chapter 11 in South Korea after months of trying to restructure its debt. Pantech listed 14 continuing lawsuits in the U.S., all related to patent disputes. Pantech relies on sales in South Korea for the majority of its 1.3 trillion won ($1.2 billion) in annual revenue, but it faces heavy competition and a saturated market. The company was also hit with government restrictions on excessive handset subsidies earlier this year, which resulted in penalties for South Korea’s three mobile carriers, including a 45-day ban on smartphone sales.