Precision Nuclear Inc. and its sister company Precision Metal Works Ltd., both owned by Fredericton-area businessman David Rioux, were placed under the receivership of Green Hunt Wedlake Inc., the New Brunswick Business Journal reported. The Halifax-based bankruptcy trustees and insolvency consultants were appointed by the Court of Queen's Bench for 30 days while Rioux, the president, chief executive and sole shareholder of the companies, tries to come up with a reorganization plan that would meet the approval of its creditors.

General Motors Co. is trying to line up $6 billion in financial support from five governments in addition to the U.S. federal aid outlined in its restructuring plan late Tuesday, Dow Jones Newswires reported. The U.S. automaker said it is in talks with authorities in Germany, the U.K., Sweden, Canada and Thailand to secure the aid by March 31, in line with a U.S. government deadline for continuing and extending support to keep the company out of bankruptcy protection.

Air Canada, the country's biggest airline, could be forced to file for bankruptcy protection if it does not secure additional financing and succeed in renegotiating covenants in credit card agreements, UBS analyst Fadi Chamoun said. Covenants in credit card agreements could tighten further in the second quarter and result in the airline being required to maintain higher cash deposits, said Chamoun, who downgraded Air Canada shares to "sell" from "neutral". He also cut his target price for its shares to C$1 from C$1.50.

The pressure on Network Ten's majority owner, CanWest, is not letting up, and analysts are raising the spectre of bankruptcy for the cash-strapped media group, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. The company, controlled by the Asper family, early this week began looking for buyers for five of its free-to-air television stations in Canada as it is seeking to avert breaching its lending covenants this quarter.

Two New Brunswick companies will likely be put into receivership next week after lawyers for the firms and their creditors negotiated throughout the day Thursday, The Daily Gleaner reported. Precision Nuclear Inc. was before Court of Queen's Bench Justice Paulette Garnett on Thursday seeking protection under the Companies Credits Arrangements Act, which would give it a chance to continue operation.

Telecom equipment company Nortel Networks Corp. said Tuesday it has received a bankruptcy protection extension to May 1 from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Associated Press reported. Nortel filed for creditor protection Jan. 14 in Canada and the United States and got an initial 30-day protection period. The Toronto-based company became the first major technology company to take that step in this global downturn. The filing came a day before Nortel was due to make a debt payment of $107 million.

Nortel Networks Corp is working on a "detailed plan" to further cut its global workforce as it restructures under bankruptcy protection, and it will seek to avoid holding an annual shareholder meeting because it says it would be distracting and expensive, Ernst & Young Inc, the monitor overseeing Nortel's bankruptcy protection, said in a court report posted on its website.

Nortel Networks Corp. is seeking a three-month extension to deal with its restructuring under bankruptcy protection, The Canadian Press reported. The company is asking the courts for the stay period to be extended to May 1. Nortel spokesperson Mohammed Nakhooda said motions were filed late Thursday and will be dealt with next week.

Personal bankruptcies among Canadians rose 9% in the first 11 months of 2008 over 2007, Equifax Canada has reported. The information solutions company’s most recent data, as of Nov. 30, shows that the number of consumer bankruptcy filings for 2008 had reached 109,068, up from 100,253 bankruptcies at the end of November 2007, Investment Executive reported. By the end of November, total consumer bankruptcies had already surpassed, by 1.6%, the total amount of bankruptcies for all of 2007, which totalled 107,312.

Former employees of bankrupt Nortel Networks Corp. have called on the troubled telecommunications company to restore promised severances it suspended after filing for Chapter 11 protection earlier this month, Bankruptcy Law360 reported. In a memo sent to Nortel Chief Executive Mike Zafirovski and other officers, the workers urged the Canadian company to show good faith and reverse its decision to deny the payouts.