Headlines

Creditors of Kumho Industrial and Kumho Tire voted yesterday in favor of a debt workout program proposed by their cash-strapped parent group last week, putting bond payments on hold for the next three months, the JoongAng Daily reported. With the workouts formally kicking off, creditors are expected to perform due diligence, then lay out and enforce restructuring plans. The headquarters of Woori Bank, one of Kumho Industrial’s main creditors, hosted the vote yesterday morning on that company’s debt workout plan, which was approved by more than 75 percent.

The government-backed body drawing up a proposal to restructure Japan Airlines Corp. hopes to bring in an outsider with no aviation experience as a successor to current Chief Executive Haruka Nishimatsu, according to a person familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal reported. If successful, the move would mark the first time that JAL would be headed by an outsider with no aviation experience, underlining the severe degree of change facing the cash-strapped carrier. The Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp.

The run-up to New Year is a time to tidy up loose ends in Japan so that in January everything starts afresh. For a fleeting moment, it looked as if the government was doing just that when, after months of indecisiveness, it hinted on December 30th that Japan Airlines might be headed for bankruptcy, The Economist reported in a commentary. But after the shares slumped by 24% to an all-time low on the same day, ministers lost their nerve over sanctioning what could be one of Japan’s biggest corporate failures.

Kumho Asiana Group, the South Korean conglomerate struggling to meet debt obligations, on Tuesday said it planned to raise more than Won1,300 billion ($1.1 billion) by selling assets, cutting staff and introducing obligatory unpaid leave, the Financial Times reported. The announcement followed last week’s news that the group’s two main units – Kumho Industrial and Kumho Tire – would be put under a debt-workout programme. Korea Development Bank, its main creditor, and other debt holders will meet later on Tuesday to discuss the rescheduling of the two companies’ debts.

Icelandic Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir said on Tuesday that it was "debatable" whether the island's president had overstepped his legal bounds when forcing a referendum on the Icesave issue, Reuters reported. Earlier on Tuesday, the Icelandic president refused to sign into law a bill to repay more than $5 billion lost by savers in Britain and the Netherlands, calling for a referendum and stirring fresh turmoil in the crisis-hit country.

It was heralded as Dubai's crowning achievement but the cash-strapped emirate was forced to swallow its pride today and rename the world's tallest building after its financial rescuer - the ruler of its oil-rich neighbour, The Australian reported. The humiliating announcement was made by Dubai’s own leader at the dazzling launch of the $1.5 billion Burj Dubai, which will now be known as Burj Khalifa in honour of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates.

Occupational & Medical Innovations, a retractable syringe business started by a devout Queensland Christian whose relative suffered an accidental needle-prick, has called in the corporate doctors, the Courier Mail reported. Logan-based OMI's entry into voluntary administration yesterday comes after the struggling biotech raised almost $40 million from investors since listing on the stock market in October 2000.

There is a blanket of uncertainty surrounding the South West town of Collie as the administration of WA's oldest coal miner continues to unfold, ABC News reported. Around 500 Griffin Coal workers now know that their jobs could be on the line after the company went into voluntary administration because it was unable to meet debt and tax payments. Historically, Collie was established as a coal mining town and the coal industry remains at the heart of the local economy. The Member for Collie Mick Murray says the town, which has a population of approximately 9000, is shocked by the news.

Professor Veronica James, the developer of a breast cancer test, bought two tickets in last Saturday's $30 million Tattslotto draw hoping to win enough to buy back her invention, The Herald Sun reported in a commentary. The test the award-winning scientist discovered has been in limbo in a striken company called Fermiscan, which went into voluntary administration in November after having burned through more cash in a few years than the total of Saturday’s Tatts prize pool.

Van der Moolen Holding NV, the 117- year-old bankrupt Dutch stockbroker, will sell cars, champagne buckets and bronze statuettes of Mercury, the Roman god of trade, in an online auction to repay debt, BusinessWeek reported on a Bloomberg story. Receivers, appointed by an Amsterdam court to settle about €28.3 million ($40.8 million) of debt, have hired a company to sell items including office furniture, flat-panel televisions and dish washers, according to the auctioneer’s Web site.