Headlines

Parking Co of America Airports, which calls itself the largest domestic offsite airport parking business in the US, has sought bankruptcy protection, saying it plans to sell the company after revenue was hurt by a slumping airline industry, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Parking Co of America's parent, PCAA Parent, also filed for bankruptcy. The company is indirectly owned by Macquarie Infrastructure Co, which did not file for bankruptcy.

The Thai unit of General Motors Co. has secured $409 million of loans from local banks and a cash infusion from GM, allowing it to restart expansion plans, the Associated Press reported. The funds, which include $118 million from GM, will finance construction of a diesel engine plant in the eastern seaboard province of Rayong and production of a SUV and new pickup truck in Thailand, GM said Friday. The Thai business was temporarily cut off from financial support when GM filed for bankruptcy protection in June last year. It now expects to carry out the expansion over 2011 and 2012.

Greece’s debt crisis returned to financial markets with a vengeance as agitated investors demanded the highest premiums to buy its government bonds since the launch of European monetary union over a decade ago. The yield spread between 10-year Greek bonds and benchmark German Bunds widened dramatically on Wednesday, by almost 0.7 percentage points at one point, in what one trader called a “capitulation” to sellers worried about Greece’s ability to refinance its debt.

Dutch luxury sportscar maker Spyker may be the unlikely buyer of Saab but it is set to struggle with the real challenge: converting two loss-making companies into a profitable one, Reuters reported. The new Saab Spyker Automobiles NV faces huge challenges -- persistent losses, outdated designs, high labour costs, declining sales and, perhaps above all, little belief in the industry that it can pull off a turnaround.

European Union regulators said on Wednesday they would review as soon as possible Swedish authorities' plan to guarantee a 400 million euro ($562 million) European Investment Bank loan to Swedish carmaker Saab. Of the guarantee amount, 82.8 percent will have to be scrutinised by the European Commission to see whether it complies with state aid rules, Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd said.

Allen & Overy (A&O) has taken a lead role as General Motors (GM) and Spyker reached an agreement for the purchase of Saab Automobile yesterday (26 January) after months of discussions, LegalWeek reported. The magic circle firm advised Spyker on the deal, which has been agreed at a cut-price value of $400 million (£247 million), but will see the small Dutch auto maker save the Saab brand from disappearing after GM announced plans to wind down operations late last year.

A payout to members owed money by New Zealand’s Independent Magazine Distributors (IMD) is likely to be made within six to eight weeks, Booksellers reported. The company is in voluntary administration and Booksellers CEO Lincoln Gould attended a creditors meeting in Auckland last Friday on behalf of a number of members who have not yet been paid out on their latest claims for returns. Another creditors meeting is schedule for 17 February at which a proposal for settlement of the claims will be presented by the administrators, Waterstone Insolvency.

The president of Iceland, which became one of the biggest victims of the financial crisis when its banking system collapsed, predicted an economic recovery earlier than expected, The Wall Street Journal reported. "In the second half of this year and 2011, the recovery will be gaining strength," Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson said in an interview at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting here. Mr. Grímsson said a decline in the country's currency, the krona, is helping to revive its export industries such as fishing, manufacturing and aluminum.

Asarco LLC is up in arms over a move by failed suitor Sterlite Inc. to recover at least $50 million spent during an aborted bid for the then-bankrupt mining company, claiming that Sterlite is playing a game of “heads I win, tails you lose,” Bankruptcy Law360 reported. Read more. (Subscription required.)

Secured creditors for Canwest Ltd. Partnership (LP) voted overwhelmingly to approve the unit's restructuring plan Wednesday, setting the stage for its sale or potential spinoff, the Winnipeg Free Press reported. A total of 153 lenders, representing about 97 per cent of the votes cast and almost 90 per cent of the unit's $1 billion or so in secured debt, voted in favour of the plan. Under the terms, the LP will solicit bids for the chain, which owns the National Post and 10 major metropolitan dailies across Canada.