Headlines

Liquidators, who pursued a debt owed to New Zealand’s Sita Developments, have been told they cannot take on a similar role for the company, which owed the money, The National Business Review reported. Liquidators Gerry Rea Partners had pursued Bairds Road Pharmacy, a company associated with Sita Developments, for a debt they believed it owed Sita Developments. Guardian Trust and Veda Advantage, who are also owed money by Bairds Road Pharmacy, opposed the appointment of the firm and instead wanted liquidators from Staples Rodway appointed.

AbitibiBowater Inc. has won final approval of its bid for debtor-in-possession financing and access to cash collateral, in an order that accommodates an objection from Applied Industrial Technologies Inc. over inventory the industrial supplier consigned to the newspaper giant, Bankruptcy Law360 reported. Judge Kevin J. Carey issued a final order on Thursday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware substantially adopting AbitibiBowater's motion for $206 million in DIP funding from Fairfax Financial Holdings Inc. and Avenue Investments LP.

Japan's akoya pearl industry, which began in the 1890s when Kokichi Mikimoto created the world's first cultured pearls, is facing collapse due to plunging sales and stiff competition from China, Reuters reported. In the small fishing town of Wagu on central Japan's Ago bay, about half of the 45 growers are about to close down their pearl beds after prices halved this year, sending them even deeper into the red. Saltwater akoya oyster pearls have long been a benchmark of quality in the industry, with domestic production peaking at 88.5 billion yen ($900 million) in 1990.

Canadian Superior Energy Inc., a Calgary-based natural gas producer which has been restructuring under bankruptcy protection since March, says it has been granted an extension to July 24 under the federal Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, The Globe and Mail reported on a Canadian Press story. The extension will give the company more time to prepare a restructuring plan for creditors, including a deal struck earlier this week to sell its energy assets in Trinidad to a British company.

Private Saudi conglomerate Saad Group said on Sunday it would soon announce a proposal of a coordinating bank and an accounting firm to represent the interests of the counterparties in the restructuring of its debt. Saad said it has appointed business law firm Lawrence Graham to work with BDO Capital Finance, whose appointment was announced last week to restructure its obligations and those at its Bahrain-based unit, Awal Bank.

The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) has requested that EarthFirst Canada Inc., a leading developer of renewable wind energy, voluntarily suspend trading of its common shares and common share warrants on the TSX, Energy Current reported on a company press release. In light of EarthFirst having sought protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, its recently announced conditional sale of the Dokie I Project and Dokie Expansion Project and EarthFirst's obligations to the TSX, EarthFirst's directors have agreed to the trading suspension.

Stanford Financial Group’s Antiguan receivers want a judge to hold off on approving $20 million in fees to the U.S. receiver and his team, The Houston Chronicle reported. Nigel Hamilton-Smith and Peter Wastell said no fees should be paid from the bank’s assets unless services rendered benefited the bank or the judge decides to approve payment for all of Stanford Financial’s entities lumped together. Until those issues are settled, payment of fees out of bank assets could siphon money intended to reimburse some losses suffered by investors, they said in the filing.

A deal to save more than 100 jobs at a Denbighshire creamery is expected to be concluded within days, the BBC has reported. There were fears for the Llandyrnog factory after the co-operative Dairy Farmers of Britain (DFOB) went into receivership last week. However, dairy products business Milk Link has agreed to take over the plant and the deal is expected to be completed by Friday 12 June. The search is still on for a buyer for DFOB's plant in Bridgend.

West Ham was taken over by an Icelandic bank in government control Monday to prevent the Premier League club from going into bankruptcy. A moratorium on West Ham chairman Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson's debts was set to expire Monday in Iceland, so Straumur Burdaras Investment Bank assumed ownership of the club after having provided the finances for its 2006 takeover.

A liquidation proceeding against Blue Chip’s sole remaining investment vehicle, Northern Crest, has failed, clearing the way for the investment company to migrate to Australia, The National Business Review reported. If the company moves to Australia there are concerns that investors of the failed Blue Chip schemes will not be able to pursue claims under New Zealand legislation. The Registrar of Companies had brought the liquidation proceeding against the ASX-listed but New Zealand-registered company on three grounds.