Germany

Frankfurt-based aluminum company Almatis Group Friday put its operations in the U.S., Germany and the Netherlands in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to restructure the company's $1 billion debt load, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. In court papers filed Friday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, Almatis said the proposed restructuring would slash its debt by more than $600 million to $414.6 million. The company has already filed a reorganization plan, which has the support of more than two-thirds of the holders of Almatis's first-lien debt.

Dubai International Capital Wednesday sent a letter to senior lenders of German aluminum company Almatis, urging them to vote against a restructuring plan from distressed-debt investor Oaktree Capital, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The letter comes on the eve of Almatis' management filing to place the company in U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings as part of Oaktree's restructuring plan to more than halve Almatis' $1 billion debt to around $422 million.

Europe's hopes of containing Greece's credit crisis dimmed as the country's debt woes spread to Portugal, sparking a selloff in markets across the globe and testing the European Union's ability to protect its common currency, The Wall Street Journal reported. The euro tumbled to its lowest point in a year against the dollar after Standard & Poor's Ratings Services cut Portugal's credit rating two notches and downgraded Greece's debt to "junk" territory, a first for a euro-zone member. The move is bound to worsen Greece's already dire fiscal situation and hamper a recovery.

European buyout firm Triton offered to acquire insolvent German department store chain Karstadt in its entirety, submitting the one and only bid to the court-appointed administrator by the Friday deadline, Reuters reported. Triton said it presented a strategic concept to continue operating the chain as a going concern, but warned it would need Karstadt's lessors and its staff to make more sacrifices before the acquisition plans could proceed.

Goldman Sachs is considering a takeover of the remains of insolvent German department store chain Karstadt if no other investor emerges, two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters. Goldman Sachs as well as Deutsche Bank are part of the Highstreet consortium, which owns about two-thirds of Karstadt's store space. "Is increasingly looking like Highstreet is keeping this option open as a last resort," one of the sources said on Wednesday. Goldman would look for a co-investor if it decided to bid for Karstadt, another source said.

Leighton Holdings Ltd. said Monday it and Deutsche Bank were no longer in the bidding for Sydney's troubled Lane Cove Tunnel, Dow Jones reported. "I can confirm we have withdrawn from Lane Cove," a Leighton spokesman said, declining to give reasons for the decision. Leighton Contractors and Deutsche Bank were among the bidders for the 3.6-kilometer, twin-tunnel highway in Sydney's northern suburbs, which was put up for sale earlier this year after the company that owned it was pushed into receivership due to heavy debts and its unpopularity with motorists.

European Union finance ministers meet in Madrid today to discuss how to curb swelling budget deficits as Greece moved closer to asking for emergency aid to finance the region’s biggest shortfall, Bloomberg reported. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou yesterday asked for a meeting with the EU, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank, which agreed last week to back a 45 billion-euro ($61 billion) rescue package for the cash-strapped nation. Talks will begin in Athens on April 19.

France and Germany traditionally have been the “motor” of the European Union, but relations between the two countries are badly strained over the Greek debt crisis, which is just the latest example of a new German willingness to resist the demands of Europe and assert its self-interest under Chancellor Angela Merkel, The New York Times reported. The European Union is facing a serious crisis over financing and its currency, the euro.

Germany and France on Wednesday called for an international bank levy as Wolfgang Schäuble, German finance minister, outlined plans to force his country’s banks to pay €1.2 billion into an insurance fund to cover bail-outs in a future crisis, the Financial Times reported. After a German cabinet meeting attended by Christine Lagarde, French finance minister, Mr Schäuble and his French counterpart called the initiative “a very useful contribution to the international debate” about financial regulation.

German public-sector bank BayernLB says it lost nearly €2.62 billion ($3.5 billion) last year - a performance blamed largely on losses and expenses related to former Austrian unit Hypo Group Alpe Adria, The Associated Press reported. The 2009 performance was still an improvement on its huge loss of euro5.08 billion the previous year at the height of the financial crisis. BayernLB said Wednesday that it aims for a "positive result" in 2010. The bank said losses, writedowns and other expenses related to HGAA weighed down its results by a total €3.3 billion last year.