Mexico

Mexican mining and railroad company Grupo Mexico SA said it has dropped a plan to merge its U.S. unit Asarco with Southern Copper Corp., the subsidiary that runs its Mexican and Peruvian mining operations, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. In its third-quarter earnings report, released Sunday, Grupo Mexico said Americas Mining Corporation, the holding company of its mining division, will explore strategic alternatives which could include securities offerings in capital markets.

Two Congressmen from opposite sides of the aisle are calling on the Mexican government to take action in Vitro S.A.B.'s restructuring, which they say could set a "dangerous precedent" that will hurt investors in the Mexican glass company and future cross-border investment, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Rep. Jared Polis (D., Colo.) and Rep. Patrick Meehan (R., Pa.) sent a letter last week to the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C., warning about the danger of allowing Vitro's pending restructuring to proceed.

Vitro S.A.B.'s bondholders are pushing to move forward with a legal battle that could cost $1.35 billion or more, calling the Mexican glassmaker's bid to stop them a meritless "act of pure gamesmanship," Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. An informal group of bondholders and bond trustee Wilmington Trust separately asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas Thursday to deny Vitro's request to enforce the shield of bankruptcy currently protecting the company from litigation, according to court papers.

Mexican airline Interjet said on Wednesday it has opted against taking over the operations of troubled carrier Mexicana, which stopped flying a year ago due to financial difficulties, Reuters reported. In a newspaper announcement, Interjet said its board had been asked to consider taking on Mexicana's business by a third party, and had decided not to after reviewing the possibility. "We're aware of the difficult situation Mexicana's workers are going through, and we sincerely hope that their rights are safeguarded in the process," Interjet said.

Creditors of Mexican glassmaker Vitro said they will appeal a recent ruling that would let the company vote on its restructuring terms -- putting Vitro itself ahead of other creditors, Reuters reported. A Monterrey-based judge last week ruled that under Mexico's bankruptcy law Vitro qualifies as a creditor because of its $1.9 billion of intercompany debt, giving it an advantage over other creditors when it comes to deciding its $3.4 billion restructuring plan.

Mexican glassmaker Vitro on Monday said a court in Monterrey ruled it can vote on its own inter-company debt, a sticking point that has mired the company's bankruptcy plans in court battles with creditors, Reuters reported. Vitro, which has been battling with external creditors over its plans to restructure about $3.4 billion in debt, filed a pre-packaged bankruptcy plan in December. The company, in a separate court case, had argued it should have more control over the bankruptcy proceeding because of its inter-company debt.

Vitro SAB won U.S. recognition of its ongoing Mexican restructuring proceeding, a decision that shields U.S. assets from debt collection attempts by angry creditors, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Judge Harlin D. Hale of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas signed off on the Mexican glass maker's Chapter 15 petition Thursday. Read more. (Subscription required.)

Vitro SAB bondholders say the Mexican glass maker lost something in translation of a Mexican court's recent ruling: a few key phrases that could weaken the company's position in a Texas bankruptcy court, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The bondholders said Vitro filed an inaccurate translation Wednesday of the ruling with the U.S. Bankruptcy in Dallas in an attempt to allow the company's general counsel and his assistant to serve as key representatives in U.S. courts.

Mexican glass maker Vitro SAB said a Texas bankruptcy judge's ruling that lifts an injunction against creditors showed a "mistrust of the Mexican judicial system" and is likely to severely harm the company if bondholders are allowed to continue lawsuits against certain subsidiaries, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Vitro filed papers Wednesday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas appealing the ruling. The company is demanding that its subsidiaries, which are not part of ongoing reorganization cases in the U.S.

Try to talk about Mexican restructuring law for 15 seconds without saying the word Vitro. You can’t! And neither could the four participants in a New York panel discussion Monday on Mexico’s 11-year-old equivalent of a bankruptcy code, called Ley de Co Concurso Mercantiles, the Bankruptcy Beat blog reported. The panelists seem to agree that the prepackaged plan being pushed by Mexico’s largest glassmaker is the biggest challenge yet to the viability of Concurso. Vitro SAB and its bondholders have been fighting for months in both the U.S.