Headlines

Australia's biggest luxury boat building operation is in voluntary receivership and will be put up for sale, casting doubt over 550 jobs, the Brisbane Times reported. Deloitte partners Chris Campbell, Vaughan Strawbridge and Richard Hughes have been appointed receivers and managers of Riviera. The company operates a state-of-the-art boat building facility at Coomera on the Gold Coast and exports to more than 30 countries. Riviera shed 117 of its Gold Coast staff in January in the wake of the global downturn.

A superior court judge in Quebec has approved a further $100 million in debtor-in-possession financing for North America's largest newsprint producer, AbitibiBowater Inc., as it navigates joint bankruptcy proceedings in Canada and the U.S., Bankruptcy Law360 reported. The order, which was approved by a judge in Quebec Superior Court on Wednesday, will allow AbitibiBowater to enter a loan agreement with Canada's Bank of Montreal, the company announced. Investissement Quebec, the province's investment agency, will guarantee the $100 million loan, according to AbitibiBowater.

German bank Commerzbank AG said Friday its net loss widened to €861 million ($1.15 billion) in the first quarter as it booked more than €1 billion in write-downs and prepared for a broad restructuring aimed at limiting its risk profile, The Wall Street Journal reported. Commerzbank said it wrote down €1.2 billion in toxic assets during the quarter that had previously been allocated to an internal restructuring unit. A further €289 million in restructuring expenses were also incurred, Commerzbank said.

The leader of GM Canada's largest union says a filing by the car maker for court protection from creditors is likely, The Globe and Mail reported. The federal and Ontario governments have ordered the Canadian Auto Workers and General Motors of Canada Ltd. to slash hourly labour costs by May 15. CAW president Ken Lewenza says the company faces liquidation if a cost-saving agreement is not reached. “This is an unbelievable situation,” says Mr. Lewenza, who believes the car maker may have to file for Chapter 11 and CCAA creditor protection.

The debt-ridden agribusiness group Great Southern has gone into a trading halt pending an announcement on its managed investment scheme sales program and working capital needs, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. The shares were trading at 12c when the halt took place. They have fallen from a high of $5 in March 2005, dropping sharply over the past year. The trading halt will stay in place until the company makes an announcement, expected before Monday.

OZ Minerals has recommended its shareholders vote in favour of its deal with China Minmetals to save it from administration, The Australian reported. Releasing documents today that outline the $US1.2 billion ($1.6 billion) asset sale, OZ chairman Barry Cusack said if the transaction were not approved, OZ Minerals might not be successful in refinancing its debt, which could potentially lead to it being unable to continue operating as a going concern and being placed into voluntary administration or receivership.

The World Bank’s private-sector arm has launched an asset management company to take equity stakes in companies in teetering emerging markets, and has hired a Goldman Sachs banker to run the venture, the Financial Times reported. The Bank’s International Finance Corporation hopes the company will attract more government and private capital to developing countries at a time when many investors are pulling their money out.

The judge deciding on whether Greg Olliver is bankrupted is considering the idea of throwing out his current proposal, but allowing him to submit a new one to his creditors, The National Business Review reported. In the High Court at Auckland today, lawyers for Mr Olliver--who owes $90 million to his creditors--were subjected to rigorous questioning from Associate Judge John Faire on the merits of Mr Olliver’s proposal. Mr Olliver needs to win the judge’s signoff, after achieving the first hurdle by winning approval for the scheme from 75% of his creditors by value.

The International Monetary Fund has corrected an embarrassing error that led to the publication of exaggerated estimates of the external debt levels of crisis-hit eastern European states, the Financial Times reported. In its latest Global Financial Stability Report, published in April, the IMF provided key numbers on 38 selected emerging market countries, including their 2009 external debt refinancing needs as a ratio of their foreign exchange reserves.

Fiat Group CEO Sergio Marchionne will become the chief executive of Chrysler after the U.S. automaker emerges from bankruptcy, a Fiat spokesman confirmed Thursday. Marchionne, the 56-year-old dual Canadian and Italian citizen, has been tipped for the job since the Italian automaker reached a deal to take a 20-percent stake in the bankrupt Chrysler, The Associated Press reported. Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli has said he would step down when the bankruptcy is complete, which would make room for Marchionne. U.S.