Headlines

Gruma SAB, the largest maker of corn flour for tortillas in Mexico, said its auditors have “substantial doubt” about whether it can stay in business and the company may be forced to file for bankruptcy, Bloomberg reported. The Mexican tortilla maker reached an agreement on March 23 with Credit Suisse Group AG, Deutsche Bank AG and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to borrow $668.3 million to pay them back for currency derivatives that plunged in value after the peso lost 20 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Last-minute talks have delayed the restructuring deal for French building materials company Monier Group, three sources with knowledge of the situation said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The €1 billion ($1.41 billion) debt-for-equity swap was due to be signed on Monday, but is now expected to be put before lenders on Thursday, the sources said. "Last minute negotiations on terms held up release of the restructuring agreement," said a senior lender source.

Cemex SAB, the largest cement maker in the Americas, takes its proposal for restructuring $14.5 billion of bank debt to Madrid today after presenting the offer to lenders in New York earlier this week, Bloomberg reported. Monterrey, Mexico-based Cemex is seeking to extend the maturity of the debt to February 2014 from the current 2009 through 2011, the company said yesterday. Cemex also said in a U.S. securities filing that it may need to issue debt, stock or equity-linked notes and that its auditors “expressed substantial doubt” about the company’s ability to stay in business.

Zimbabwe’s prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, said Tuesday that an official he had appointed had secured lines of credit worth $950 million from China, President Robert Mugabe’s longtime ally, The New York Times reported. Mr. Mugabe’s party has mocked Mr. Tsvangirai for failing to bring home much aid from his three-week tour of the United States and Europe. Zimbabwe’s government — a virtually bankrupt contraption led by Mr. Mugabe and his rival, Mr. Tsvangirai — needs an estimated $8 billion to rebuild the country’s ruined economy.

Pisces Group, the Australian mortgage broking platform provider chaired by former federal Liberal leader John Hewson, would be able to claw itself out of voluntary administration, The Australian reported. Pisces, the third company associated with Dr Hewson to have struck trouble, was placed in voluntary administration in June.

The Japanese government has embarked on a controversial plan to prop up domestic electronics companies weakened by overseas competition and clobbered by the recession, echoing the automobile-industry bailout in the U.S., The Wall Street Journal reported. Japan said Tuesday it will invest 30 billion yen ($310 million) in Elpida Memory Inc. to help the semiconductor-maker survive the current downturn by beefing up its financial standing and modernizing its production facilities so it can compete with overseas rivals.

No villas in the south of France for Russia’s top bankers this summer, if Vladimir Putin gets his way, the Financial Times reported. Russia’s prime minister has sternly warned bank chiefs not to plan any holidays until they have sorted out the financing of the country’s recession-hit economy. It will take a huge effort, with output forecast to fall by about 8 per cent this year and hopes of a quick recovery fading. Even the big state-owned banks that dominate the sector are under pressure, with VTB, the second-largest, warning of possible annual losses.

Dutch financial services group ING will combine its local insurance brands, aiming for an annual income boost of €100 million ($141 million) from 2013 after a restructuring which will include 800 job cuts, Reuters reported. ING's insurance operations Nationale-Nederlanden, RVS and ING Verzekeren Retail will be combined under the banner of the largest, Nationale-Nederlanden, the bancassurer said on Wednesday. ING was formed in 1991 when Nationale-Nederlanden and NMB Postbank Groep merged.

A bankruptcy judge has approved bidding procedures for telecommunications company Nortel Networks Corp. to sell its wireless infrastructure business, with Nokia Siemens Networks BV making the $650 million stalking horse bid, Bankruptcy Law360 reported. Read more. (Subscription required.)

Escada AG, the German maker of luxury clothing for women, asked corporate bondholders to accept conditions that cut the nominal value of their investment by about 60 percent, as the company seeks to avoid insolvency, Bloomberg reported. Investors were asked to exchange €200 million ($281 million) in seven-year bonds due 2012, the company said in a statement today. Each €1,000 in old debt will be replaced by one bond worth €250 maturing in 2014 and a second bond worth €125 due 2016, the company said.