Headlines

Two creditors of German retail firm Karstadt have appealed against the insolvency plan forming the basis of the planned takeover by investor Nicolas Berggruen, the mass circulation newspaper Bild am Sonntag (BamS) wrote on Sunday, Reuters reported. Although the two suppliers, according to BamS information, were owed only around 70,000 euros ($93,410), the move could in theory delay a planned handover at the end of the week starting Sept. 27, by insolvency administrator Klaus Hubert Goerg to billionaire businessman Berggruen.

Takefuji Corp. shares are poised to drop by their daily limit after a report Japan’s third-biggest consumer lender was preparing to seek bankruptcy protection in what would be the country’s second-biggest filing this year, Bloomberg reported. Takefuji, with 430 billion yen ($5.1 billion) in liabilities as of June 30, is in final talks to file for bankruptcy at the Tokyo District Court, the Nikkei newspaper said, without saying where it obtained the information.

New Zealanders are continuing to turn their backs on credit in an effort to pay off their debts, credit bureau Veda Advantage said, The National Business Review reported. "Consumer appetite for credit is down, people are moving to consolidate debt and mainstream banks are, in part, stepping into the void left by the finance companies via personal loans," managing director John Roberts said. Veda believes the most significant shift in people's attitudes to credit in the last 20 years is under way. There was a "radical change" in the lending market, Mr Roberts said.

The liquidator of the well known legal search company, Brennans Law Searchers Limited, has confirmed he has entered into a license agreement with Brady & Co. (Law Searchers) Limited as part of the creditors’ voluntary liquidation process, InsolvencyJournal.ie reported. Ken Fennell of kavanaghfennell has been appointed liquidator to the company. “The licence agreement offers the opportunity to safeguard the business and jobs while we undergo the sales process”, said Mícheál Leydon of kavanaghfennell, who is also involved in the liquidation.

Creditors of Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. Friday launched the sale of their 34.88% stake in the construction firm, in a deal that could fetch them $3 billion and potentially set the stage for a fight between Hyundai Engineering's former sister companies, The Wall Street Journal reported. The creditors, in a public announcement published in a local newspaper, said the deadline for letters of interest in the stake will be on Oct. 1. The deadline for the formal bids is Nov. 12, and they seek to name a preferred bidder in December.

U.K. business failures are forecast to fall by 18% this year but insolvencies are set to remain above pre-recession levels until 2013 or beyond, according to a survey by accountants BDO International, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The quarterly Industry Watch survey, done with the Centre for Economics and Business Research, expects the number of failures, including liquidations, administrative receiverships and orders, and voluntary arrangements, to fall to 21,600 from 26,196 last year.

The Attorney-General has been directed to respond to a petition filed by the Kenya Planters Co-operative Union (KPCU) seeking to be bailed out of receivership, Business Daily Africa reported. Constitutional Court Judge Roselyn Wendoh on Wednesday told the State Law Office to file its replying affidavit within 14 days. Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) and Coffee Board of Kenya were also asked to respond within seven days upon being served by the AG. The parties involved in the dispute will return to court on November 3 to confirm compliance with the orders.

South Korea's National Pension Service, the world's fifth-largest pension fund, has committed to invest $300 million in troubled real estate through Townsend Group, the latest sign that foreign investors increasingly are venturing into the down-on-its-luck U.S. property market, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The pension fund has committed to invest the money in a separately managed account with Cleveland-based Townsend. It primarily will focus on snapping up stakes in distressed private-equity real-estate funds and recapitalizing these funds.

It is unthinkable that Ireland or its banks would default on senior debt, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said on Wednesday. Opposition politicians and some media commentators have called on Lenihan to force bondholders in Anglo Irish Bank to take some of the hit for the nationalised lender's massive losses, which are a major burden on the exchequer. "It's unthinkable that Ireland would default on senior debt or that Ireland's banks would default on senior debt," Lenihan told Reuters in parliament.

The Westin Hotel is "making the best of a bad situation" as a dispute between the owners and receivers of the hotel's management company rumbles on during one of its busiest booking weeks of the year, The New Zealand Herald reported. The Westin is doing a fraction of its normal trade and has had to turn away several NZ Fashion Week guests after half of the hotel was made off limits earlier this month. Owners are seeking to cancel the leases of a further 19 rooms at the five star hotel in the next two weeks.