Headlines

Creditors of Brazil's Grupo Rede Energia SA, a power distributor seeking to exit bankruptcy protection, approved on Friday a takeover plan by rival Energisa SA that would reduce losses on their investments in the company, Reuters reported. The plan, under which Energisa would take control of Rede and revamp it, must be submitted for final approval by the bankruptcy court, Thomas Felsberg, Rede's lawyer, said. Creditors voted on Energisa's bid and a bid by CPFL Energia SA and Equatorial Energia SA at an assembly.

Central Bank governor Patrick Honohan said today that he expects there will be repossessions by Irish banks of buy-to-let properties that are in arrears with their mortgages but hopes there will be “very few” of owner-occupied family homes, the Irish Times reported. Mr Honohan also expressed his preference for split mortgages - whereby part of the loan is warehoused for a period of time without repayments being made - over interest-only repayment solutions as the country seeks to tackle the crisis of home loan arrears that has built up in the banking system.

Indebted Israeli conglomerate IDB Holding will present a new proposal for a debt restructuring to a Tel Aviv court on Sunday after it confirmed that Argentinian businessman Eduardo Elsztain has backed out of a planned investment of $75 million, Reuters reported. Elsztain's investment had been crucial to a previous debt restructuring that IDB, which controls some of Israel's leading companies, had presented to its bondholders. An industry source had told Reuters on Friday that Elsztain had decided not to go ahead with the investment.

German solar group Conergy has filed for insolvency, putting about 800 jobs at risk and becoming the latest casualty in an industry battered by overcapacity, plunging prices and a trade dispute between Europe and China, Climate Spectator reported. Once Europe's largest solar company, Conergy has been fighting for months to secure fresh investment and a deal with its creditors, and earlier this week it had looked close to an agreement.

Portugal's embattled prime minister said he had reached an understanding to keep his government from collapsing, but only after four days of political tremors highlighted the biggest flaw in Europe's strategy for reviving crisis-hit euro members: It isn't working, The Wall Street Journal reported. Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said he had received assurances Thursday of continued backing of the Democratic and Social Center Party, the junior partner in his center-right coalition, despite the resignation of its leader, Paulo Portas, as foreign minister. Mr.

Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista's EBX Group, a once high-flying industrial conglomerate, began breaking up on Thursday, the latest victim of a decade-long commodities boom that has come to a screeching halt, Reuters reported. Batista, the founder and vital force behind the oil, energy, port, shipbuilding and mining group who branded all his companies with an "X" for "the multiplication of wealth," stepped down as chairman of MPX Energia SA, the embattled EBX Group's most promising company.

Austrian drug store chain Dayli filed for court-supervised restructuring on Thursday, acknowledging it had failed to deliver on its concept for neighbourhood stores and saying nearly 3,500 jobs were at risk, Reuters reported. The filing in Linz poses a fresh test of whether Austria's strong safety net that gives it the European Union's lowest jobless rate can handle a wave of corporate failures, including that of Alpine, the country's second-biggest construction group.

Upmarket British designer fashion chain Nicole Farhi has gone into administration, a form of bankruptcy in the U.K., a business restructuring firm said Wednesday. Zolfo Cooper, a company providing restructuring services, said it is in talks to sell the brand, one of Britain's best-known luxury clothing chains and a regular at London Fashion Week, the Associated Press reported. "As with many other fashion retailers, the decline in high street spend coupled with rising costs has led to increased financial pressures on the business," said Peter Saville, a partner at Zolfo Cooper.

French water company Saur is set to be taken over by its creditors later this month after securing a restructuring deal with all its stakeholders that will see its burdensome debt pile cut in half. The state-backed company, which competes with France’s Veolia Environnement and Suez Environnement, has negotiated a deal where its more than 60 bank lenders will take ownership in return for writing off much of the debt, the Financial Times reported. The group had been struggling with €1.8bn worth of debt stemming from a 2007 leveraged buyout, which will come down to €900m.

Profits at the insolvency specialist Begbies Traynor have halved because fewer UK companies are going bust, The Guardian reported. The firm, which has been administrator to indebted groups from Port Vale FC to Rotherham-based United Carpets, reported that pre-tax profits were down £2.4m for the year until the end of April, compared with £5.5m the previous year. Revenues fell by more than 10% to £51m. In a statement the board blamed the profit fall on a 10% decline in insolvency cases, which it said had reached historic lows compared to previous recessions.