Headlines

Milan judge Pierluigi Perrotti Wednesday postponed Risanamento SpA's bankruptcy hearing to Sept. 22, giving the beleaguered real estate company more time to work through its €2.8 billion debt restructuring, Dow Jones reported. "The judge decided to ask all the parties involved, as well as Risanamento, to present a new restructuring plan by Sept. 1," Milan prosecutor Laura Pedio said. Risanamento's board Tuesday approved a restructuring plan that calls for creditor banks to inject about €500 million into the firm.

Just months after an epic banking collapse forced Iceland into the arms of the International Monetary Fund, this island nation is locked in a fierce debate over how to pay off its creditors without ceding too much of its vaunted independence, The New York Times reported. The balance Iceland strikes between bowing to the policy demands of the global financial community and satisfying the desires of its increasingly resentful population of 300,000 will be closely watched as I.M.F. programs in beaten-down economies from Latvia and Ukraine to Hungary and Romania enter a crucial phase.

Arclin, a closely held maker of resins and other construction-related materials, said on Monday it filed for bankruptcy protection in Canada and the United States and that it reached an agreement in principle to restructure its debt with some of its key lenders, Reuters reported. Under the terms of the agreement, Arclin will have its debt reduced to $60 million from $234 million, the company said in a statement. A post-petition financing facility of $25 million is also part of the deal.

Italy's Borletti Group, an investment company that owns stakes in Europe's La Rinascente and Le Printemps department stores, is one of four firms to have submitted bids for Christian Lacroix fashion house, raising hopes that the struggling French brand won't be closed down, The Wall Street Journal reported. Lacroix was placed under bankruptcy protection in June after failing to turn a profit since its creation in 1987. The bankruptcy filing sparked an outcry in France, where Christian Lacroix is considered a cultural gem.

Canadian auto parts maker Magna has increased the amount of upfront capital it will inject in its offer for General Motors' European unit Opel, a German government source said on Tuesday. "Magna is now offering €350 million of its own capital immediately," said the government source. Magna originally wanted to invest just €100 million ($142.8 million) of capital in Opel in two tranches of €50 million , sources involved in the negotiations said, along with another €400 million in convertible debt.

The Harper government is facing growing pressure to intervene in the liquidation of Nortel Networks Corp., but shows no signs of supporting an effort by Research In Motion Ltd. to keep assets of the company in Canadian hands, The Globe and Mail reported. In a highly unusual move, Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan joined federal opposition parties in urging Ottawa to act on the Nortel sale, with Mr. Duncan arguing the proposed $1.13-billion foreign acquisition of its wireless division should be blocked.

Telecoms equipment maker Ericsson said on Monday it expected the wireless assets to be acquired from Nortel Networks Corp to produce a double-digit operating margin this year, Reuters reported. The deal, expected to close in the third quarter, will generate synergies in sales, services and research and development, said Ericsson Chief Financial Officer Hans Vestberg said during a conference call. Vestberg, who is due to become chief executive at the turn of the year, said he agreed that the wireless acquisition could show an operating margin of more than 10 percent this year.

Northern Rock Plc shareholders lost a court bid seeking compensation from the British government for stock they claim was rendered worthless when the U.K. bank was nationalized last year, Bloomberg reported. A three-judge panel at the Court of Appeal in London today threw out a lawsuit filed by hedge funds SRM Global, RAB Capital Plc and a group of private investors. They had sought a judicial review of the way the shares will be valued by the government. Northern Rock shares peaked at 1,251 pence in February 2007, and closed at 90 pence on Feb. 15, 2008, when they were suspended.

U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling warned banks Monday that they must pass on interest rate cuts and said the government will comb through the lending activities of individual institutions in coming weeks, Dow Jones reported. Following a meeting with senior bank executives, Darling told the British Broadcasting Corp.

Lithuania’s economy plunged a preliminary 22.4 percent in the second quarter, the worst recession since 1990 independence, as output crashed and retail sales slumped, Bloomberg reported. The decline, the deepest in the European Union, compares with a revised 13.3 percent contraction in the first quarter, the Vilnius-based statistics office said in an e-mailed statement today. The economy grew 5.2 percent in the same period last year.