Headlines

Italian auto maker Fiat SpA's risky bet on entering the U.S. auto market by taking a stake in Chrysler LLC--which is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy--just might pay off in current business conditions, analysts said. Fiat announced Tuesday it is take a 35% stake in Chrysler, contributing strategic assets but no cash, The Wall Street Journal reported. It also won't commit to funding Chrysler in the future, the two companies said Tuesday. The Italian car maker is betting that it can succeed in cracking the U.S.

Ineos Group Holdings, Georgia Gulf Corp. and Chemtura Corp. are crashing on a mountain of takeover debt and may follow Lyondell Chemical Co. into bankruptcy, trading in their bonds shows. The combination of $11.7 billion in debt, frozen credit markets and the global recession are forcing the companies to negotiate with creditors to loosen terms of their loans. A glut in supplies that drove prices of polypropylene down by half since October will make it even harder for plastics makers to meet debt payments, just as manufacturers in the Middle East add millions of tons of new supplies.

With credit tightening and corporate earnings slipping, investors are casting their eyes suspiciously toward their portfolios, wondering which companies could be at risk of bankruptcy. "With the North American auto sector on the brink, Nortel Networks Corp. going into bankruptcy protection, Citigroup Inc. announcing that it would break itself apart, and Bank of America's bailout, this is a hot topic," said Louis Gagnon, a finance professor at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont.

Amid the ongoing restructuring processes of Nortel Networks, the Philippine operations will remain safe, Inquirer.net reported. Nortel Asia Communications Director Matthew Wray said operations in the Philippines, as well as their other affiliates across Asia, are working with partners and suppliers to avoid operational disruptions. "Our affiliates across Asia, including the Philippines, are not subject to the creditor protection filings in North America and Europe and are expected to continue to operate as normal," Wray said in an email.

Australian Discount Retail Ltd., owner of the Crazy Clark’s/Go-Lo chain of variety stores, will be sold after a syndicate of lenders owed A$96 million ($63 million) appointed a receiver, Bloomberg reported. The first step will be to sell ADR’s Crazy Clark’s/Go-Lo, and Sam’s Warehouse businesses, receiver Ferrier Hodgson Corporate Communications Director Michael Cave said in a telephone interview. ADR, which has 402 stores and 2,700 workers, was created in 2005 by private equity firms Catalyst and CHAMP.

The board of Vita-Galilee Fruit Ltd. (Vita-Pri Galil) filed with the Haifa District Court an objection to receivership and foreclosure of the liens filed by Bank Leumi and Israel Discount Bank, Globes Online reported. The company and its subsidiaries will also convene shareholders and creditors' meetings to submit to them a recovery plan. Vita entered into receivership when Bank Leumi and Discount Bank refused to again postpone repayment of the company's debts. On Friday, receivers were appointed to the company after Bank Leumi and Discount Bank filed an ex parte request with the court.

TPI Polene Pcl, Thailand’s third-biggest cement maker, climbed the most in one month in Bangkok trading after a court allowed the company to exit receivership. The Bangkok-based company rose 7.7 percent to 3.34 baht at the close, its biggest gain since Dec. 19. The stock has advanced 5.7 percent this year compared with a 3.7 percent decline in the benchmark SET Index. The Central Bankruptcy Court issued an order to terminate the court-supervised rehabilitation proceedings, the company said in a filing to the stock exchange today.

A union representing flight attendants, ground workers and pilots staged the first strike against the new Alitalia on Monday, a week after the privatized airline took off, the Associated Press reported. The four-hour strike by the SDL union was called to protest hiring policies at the new Italian carrier and began at 10 a.m. Alitalia said the strike caused the cancellation of four flights. Wildcat protests at Rome and Milan airports marred the launch of the new Alitalia last Tuesday, causing some delays and cancellations, but Monday's was the first scheduled strike in the company's new life.

Lithuania's troubled FlyLAL airline said Saturday it has suspended its operations after a buyout deal by Swiss investment firm SCH Swiss Capital Holdings failed, the Associated Press reported. Airline officials said it terminated a preliminary agreement with the Swiss company after it failed to pay $1 million (€756,000) that would have cleared FlyLAL's debts and potentially saved it from bankruptcy. Company Chief Executive Vytautas Kaikaris said the suspension was one of the few options left to try to save his company.

Strategic Resource Acquisition said on Thursday it had filed for bankruptcy protection as a plunge in metals prices and tight credit conditions left the zinc miner unable to pay its bills, Reuters reported. Toronto-based SRA said it and its U.S. subsidiary, Mid-Tennessee Zinc Corp, have filed for U.S. Chapter 11 protection, and said it was also seeking protection in Canada under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act.