The president of a leading European business group has condemned Germany's plan to sweeten the sale of Opel, General Motors' European arm, to a Canadian-led consortium with an offer of billions of euros in subsidies, the Financial Times reported. "We would have been much better off if we had had a structured insolvency. That would have left Opel in Europe in a much stronger position," said Jürgen Thumann, head of BusinessEurope, a pan-European employers' federation.

Canada has decided against launching a review of the $1.13 billion sale of the wireless assets of bankrupt Nortel Networks to Sweden's Ericsson, Industry Minister Tony Clement said on Wednesday. "I am satisfied that the assets sold fall well below the threshold required for a review under the Investment Canada Act," Clement said at a press conference in Toronto, Reuters reported.

Canada's auto warranty program designed to help out the troubled North American car industry ended today and it didn't cost taxpayers a dime, Industry Minister Tony Clement says. "It was never activated because it was conditional upon either Chrysler or GM going into (bankruptcy protection) in Canada and neither of them happened," Clement told the Toronto Star.

There is rough news for employees at Arclin Canada with word that workers in Thunder Bay are being laid off, Net News Ledger reported. The move comes as the company continues to restructure. On July 27, 2009, Arclin announced that it reached an agreement in principle with certain of its key senior lenders on the terms of a financial restructuring to strengthen the Company’s balance sheet and enhance its financial flexibility. Under terms of the agreement, Arclin’s funded indebtedness will be reduced from US$234 million to US$60 million.

Ford Motor Co.'s Canadian division and the Canadian Auto Workers union began labor talks on Tuesday after the union made substantial concessions to both General Motors and Chrysler earlier this year, The Associated Press reported. Ford asked the CAW to reopen its current labor contract, which doesn't expire until 2011. The GM and Chrysler concessions were part of a restructuring process that saw both automakers file for U.S. bankruptcy protection and receive billions of dollars from governments in both Canada and the United States.

U.S. and Canadian authorities set a Nov. 13 deadline for creditor claims against AbitibiBowater, the newsprint maker said Friday. The Quebec Superior Court in Canada and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware also established procedural rules for filing the creditor claims, The Associated Press reported. "Launching the claims process at this juncture demonstrates continued progress in AbitibiBowater's restructuring efforts," said AbitibiBowater CEO David J. Paterson.

The U.S. tax authorities have thrown a huge curve ball at Nortel creditors by submitting a $3-billion U.S. claim for back taxes, interest and other penalties, The Ottawa Citizen reported. If U.S. bankruptcy judge Kevin Gross accepts all or most of the claim as valid, "it will deplete whatever is available to other creditors," says Tony Marsh, the spokesman for Nortel retirees. "That's a pretty scary number." If Nortel completes the sale of its global assets as planned, it is expected to have little more than $5 billion (all figures U.S.) in cash to distribute.

Canadian companies facing bankruptcy are being given access to a new $1-billion lifeline from Ottawa and major financial firms to provide breathing space to restructure operations and return to solvency, Export Development Canada said yesterday. The EDC said it has agreed to become the top contributor to a new fund that would act as the bank of last resort to struggling companies who are unable to obtain credit through normal channels, The London Free Press reported on a Canadian Press story.

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion says Canadians want and expect the Canadian government to prevent the $1.1-billion sale of Nortel Network's coveted wireless assets to Ericsson of Sweden, The Associated Press reported. Canada-based RIM issued a statement Wednesday after the deadline passed for appeals to challenge a bankruptcy court ruling allowing the Nortel sale to the Swedish telecommunications firm. RIM says the transaction must be reviewed to ensure that Canada's national interests are met. RIM wants Canada's industry minister to help negotiate a deal between RIM and Nortel.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is showing little inclination to intervene in the sale of Nortel's prime assets to a foreign buyer, saying he is reluctant to erect protectionist barriers in Canada while preaching the benefits of freer trade in the Americas, The Globe and Mail reported. Mr. Harper rejected a call from Research In Motion Ltd. for the government to simply block the sale of Nortel Networks Corp.'s wireless assets to Ericsson for $1.13-billion, but left open the prospect of a review under the Investment Canada Act.