Headlines

Hundreds of Irish people have had their travel plans thrown into disarray following the collapse of the 1800hotels.ie. online travel company, The Irish Times reported. The company, which handles bookings for some 70,000 hotels around the world, said last night that it had been forced into bankruptcy proceedings in the United States as it attempted to restructure its debt. In a statement, a spokesman for the company said some customers might experience room cancellations. The 1800Hotels spokesman said it was pursuing a legal injunction to prevent any further disruption to customers.

Spanish banks' recourse to European Central Bank funding hit a record high in June, against a backdrop of intensifying turmoil on financial markets, The Wall Street Journal reported. Spanish banks raised €126.3 billion ($160.6 billion) in funding from the ECB in June, up 48% from €85.62 billion in May, according to data the Spanish central bank published on its website Wednesday. The June borrowings are the largest on Bank of Spain records dating back to 1999.

Ailing South Korean automaker Ssangyong Motor said Tuesday it had extended the deadline for final bids for a controlling stake in the firm following requests from bidders for more time, Agence France-Presse reported. The deadline was extended from July 20 to August 10. Ssangyong said six bidders, including an alliance of France's Renault and Japan's Nissan Motor, had joined the race. The preliminary bidders also include Young An Hat, a local headgear company which owns bus maker Daewoo Bus, and India's top utility vehicle company Mahindra and Mahindra, Yonhap news agency said.

Indebted European countries from Greece and Italy to Spain have in recent weeks set off down a common path toward fiscal recovery, promising to slash spending and raise taxes. One sobering scenario of what they may be up against comes from Europe's southwestern edge: Portugal, which embarked a decade ago on a similar journey of austerity, higher taxes and intermittent spending cuts, is still cutting—and still struggling, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Nortel Networks Inc., once part of North America’s biggest maker of telecommunications equipment, filed its plan to repay creditors without disclosing how much they will get, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. The plan, filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, doesn’t provide details about how the company will divide the proceeds from selling its assets. Nortel, based in Toronto, filed for bankruptcy last year along with its parent, Nortel Networks Corp. The company has since raised about $2.8 billion from selling assets.

The representatives of potential Karstadt investor Nicholas Berggruen and Germany's Valovis Bank said Tuesday they have agreed on the conditions for a rental agreement over 53 Karstadt properties, further paving the path for Berggruens takeover of Karstadt following weeks of negotiations, Dow Jones Newswires reported. Now there is agreement on all essential points of the rental contract, Berggruen Holdings and Valovis said.

Top European finance officials said Tuesday that results of banking stress tests would be released on July 23 but that some national regulators could take longer to release more detailed information on certain lenders, The New York Times reported. “We want this to be as broadly based as possible, involving the institutions with sovereign debt exposure,” said Didier Reynders, the Belgian finance minister.

Three subsidiaries of struggling Greek telecommunications company Wind Hellas have shifted their addresses and principal place of business to London from Luxembourg, in a move that could aid a potential debt restructuring, the company said Tuesday, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. News of the relocation comes as Wind Hellas conducts a strategic review, which includes the potential sale of the business and a capital restructuring, after the company's performance continues to suffer in the wake of the Greek government's austerity measures.

Receivers for National Finance 2000 could be ordered to provide its directors with information to help with their defence against charges laid by the Companies Office, a court heard yesterday, The New Zealand Herald reported. In 2008, the Companies Office laid criminal charges against the directors that relate to alleged untrue statements in the company's registered prospectus and failure to comply with financial reporting standards.

Former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Seán FitzPatrick has been adjudicated a bankrupt by the High Court at his own request, just days after opposition from the bank ensured the collapse of his proposed settlement deal with creditors, The Irish Times reported. The official assignee in bankruptcy, Chris Lehane, will now deal with Mr FitzPatrick’s creditors, who are owed some €150 million. His assets are estimated to be worth some €50 million, including investments of some €45.7 million, and some €1.23 million in accounts in various financial institutions.