Mexican glassmaker Vitro SAB is heading to a U.S. appeals court to save its restructuring at home from an assault by U.S. creditors in a case that could transport the U.S. bankruptcy code beyond that nation's borders, Reuters reported. The case pits one of Monterrey, Mexico's powerful and politically connected "Group of 10" businesses against U.S. hedge funds, which Latin American critics have reviled as "vultures" for their battle against Argentina's sovereign debt restructuring. Hanging in the balance is the use of Chapter 15. Foreign companies have used this 7-year-old piece of the U.S.
Chapter 15 Headlines
Struggling to figure out how to sell DVDs and CDs in a download-driven world, Toronto-based movie and music seller Cinram International Inc. has filed for bankruptcy protection while its executives move to sell its operations, Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported. The company and several affiliates that it controls filed for Chapter 15 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., to block the consequences that it would face when its agreement with its biggest lenders expires on June 30.
A U.S. federal judge refused Wednesday to enforce Mexican glass maker Vitro SAB's controversial debt restructuring in a closely watched bankruptcy case that threatened to sever the cross-border business cooperation between the two nation's legal systems, The Wall Street Journal reported. Judge Harlin D. "Cooter" Hale of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas sided with bondholders in rejecting Vitro's bid, in what has been called one of the most important cases decided under Chapter 15, the section of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code governing international insolvencies.
Vitro SAB’s bid to enforce its Mexican bankruptcy plan in the U.S. is set to be decided by a judge next week after the glassmaker clashed with bondholders in court over the plan, Bloomberg reported. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Harlin DeWayne Hale in Dallas said in court today that he plans to rule on Vitro’s enforcement motion next week, probably by June 13. Vitro, which has won approval for the bankruptcy plan in Mexico, is seeking an order from Hale enforcing the restructuring and stopping litigation by bondholders who have been fighting the plan in the U.S.
Investors and financial analysts have their eyes on a bankruptcy case, pending in a Dallas courtroom, that they say could systematically shift how American firms do business with Mexican companies, KETK reported. The case also comes at a time when business interests from both sides of the Rio Grande are pushing to include Mexico in the current Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. Mexican glass company Vitro S.A.B filed for voluntary bankruptcy in December 2010, after defaulting on about $1.2 billion in bond debt held by foreign banks, including American interests.
Humpuss Sea Transport Pte Ltd., a Singapore-based unit of an Indonesian shipping company, filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in the U.S., Bloomberg reported. The unit of Jakarta-based PT Humpuss Intermoda Transportasi is already under the control of liquidators in Singapore, where it was incorporated in 1996, according to Monday’s filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. Debt and assets were listed at more than $100 million.
A judge affirmed packaged ice company Arctic Glacier International Inc.'s right to receive the benefits of Chapter 15 protection in the U.S. as its restructuring plays out in Canada, Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported. Judge Kevin Gross of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., Friday signed off on the company's petition for protection under Chapter 15, which allows companies to seek the U.S. court's recognition of a foreign bankruptcy case.
Elpida Memory Inc., the last Japanese maker of computer-memory chips, sought protection from creditors in the U.S. as it pursues a bankruptcy case in Japan. The Tokyo-based chipmaker filed court papers today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, listing more than $1 billion in assets and debt. It asked the court to recognize the Japanese case as the main bankruptcy proceeding. Chapter 15 of the bankruptcy code allows foreign companies reorganizing abroad to protect their assets from creditors and lawsuits in the U.S.
Units of Berlian Laju Tanker, Indonesia’s largest oil and gas shipping group, filed for Chapter 15 creditor protection in a US bankruptcy court early Wednesday morning, The Jakarta Globe reported on a Reuters story. The company’s units have listed assets and liabilities in the $50 million to $100 million range, according to a filing with the US bankruptcy court in the Southern District of New York. Under US bankruptcy laws, Chapter 15 grants a foreign company protection from creditors looking to seize its assets in the country.
Arctic Glacier Income Fund said Wednesday it will file for a court supervised restructuring under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act that the ice maker said could result in a sale or recapitalization of the business, The Globe and Mail reported on a Canadian Press story. The process has the support both of Arctic Glacier's secured lenders and two of its unitholders, Coliseum Capital Management and Talamod Asset Management, the fund said.