Headlines

Dubai International Capital, the private equity arm of the Gulf Arab emirate, said it will focus on bringing German aluminium maker Almatis out of bankruptcy after a long-running battle with a dissident lender ended, Reuters Africa reported. Oaktree Capital Management LP withdrew its opposition to DIC's plan to retain control of the bankrupt firm after a settlement offer was leaked. Oaktree and Dubai have been battling over the best way to refinance Almatis, which filed for bankruptcy in the United States with more than $1 billion in debt, for the past year.

The new Northern Rock Plc retail bank, born from the ashes of the original lender which was Britain's first major credit crisis casualty, posted a maiden loss on Tuesday and saw deposits plunge by a tenth, Reuters reported. State-owned Northern Rock Plc, which manages new mortgages and savings, posted a loss of 140 million pounds ($216.5 million) for the six months ending June, due partly to costs for its spin-off from the original company.

Cash flow problems remain rife among small businesses as banks continue to restrict credit, according to the Small Firms Association (SFA), The Irish Times reported. The representative group for small business in Ireland has repeated its calls for Government intervention, arguing in its autumn economic statement there is “clearly a market failure” in the provision of loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). One-fifth of its members have seen the amount of working capital available to them decrease in the last three months, said the SFA.

The empire of Alberta's premier chocolate maker is melting after 27 years of providing high-end treats, The Calgary Herald reported. Debt problems brought on by slumping sales and an ill-timed real estate buy forced Chocolaterie Bernard Callebaut into receivership Tuesday, leaving roughly 210 employees at 30 stores and the Calgary factory and headquarters under the control of a court-appointed financial services firm. Vic Kroeger, senior vice-president with Deloitte & Touche in Calgary, said raising new capital is probably the company's "only hope" of survival.

The main unit of Mexicana on Tuesday warned it could face liquidation unless Mexico's largest airline was allowed to keep operating aircraft in the wake of its bankruptcy filing, Dow Jones reported. Compania Mexicana de Aviacion filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. and Mexico on Monday after failing to reach a new deal with its unions to cut costs after a period of rapid expansion. The airline continued to operate most flights Tuesday, but said in court filings that aircraft leasing companies and owners were taking steps to repossess planes.

Wind Hellas is reviewing initial offers for the group as it restructures its debt for the second time in eight months, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The troubled Greek telecommunications company has received preliminary expressions of interest in the group, it said in a statement released late Monday. The company, suffering under the Greek government's austerity measures, said it would consider a sale or investment offer as part of its restructuring. Potential investors have until Sept. 15 to make a binding offer for the company.

Lombard Finance and Investments' receiver has advised of a further payment to investors and is sticking to an estimate of a final payout in the 15 to 24 per cent range, The New Zealand Herald reported. Secured debenture holders received 6.5c in the dollar last December. A further three cents in the dollar would be paid on Thursday or close to that date, the receiver PricewaterhouseCooper said. The receivers said the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) had yet to finalise its claims in the receiverships.

Banks are finally getting tough with private equity. They have taken control of almost €50 billion ($65 billion) of private-equity-backed companies in Europe since the beginning of 2009 as a result of those companies defaulting on their debt, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. This activist approach is a reversal from the times when banks were more inclined to let financial sponsors off the hook than play hardball with them, according to bankers working in restructuring.

Hong Kong risks a property bubble if home prices keep rising, said Peter Wong, HSBC Holdings Plc’s chief executive officer for the Asia-Pacific region, Bloomberg reported. The Hong Kong government is trying to curb 42 percent surge in home prices since the beginning of 2009 amid concern housing is out of reach of ordinary residents. Prices may rise 10 percent in the second half of this year if interest rates remain at two-decade lows and the local economy keeps growing, according to property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.

Grupo Mexicana de Aviacion, Mexico’s biggest airline by passengers, is in talks with international investors as it considers whether its largest unit should file for bankruptcy, Chief Executive Officer Manuel Borja Chico said. Compania Mexicana de Aviacion, which is separate from the company’s low-cost Click and Link units, seeks a new labor agreement with unions to cut costs, Borja told reporters today in Mexico City. The company must improve operations before it can attract new investment, he said.