Mexico

Vitro SAB, Mexico’s largest glassmaker, agreed to dismiss the Chapter 15 petition it filed in New York in mid-December, according to a document submitted yesterday to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Fort Worth, Texas, where bondholders filed involuntary Chapter 11 petitions a month earlier against Vitro’s U.S. subsidiaries, Bloomberg reported. Vitro was forced into dismissing the Chapter 15 case following a ruling from a court in Mexico this month dismissing Vitro’s attempted reorganization under that country’s version of Chapter 11.

Airline Mexicana de Aviacion, grounded last year amid bankruptcy proceedings, carried out two test flights Thursday in what authorities hope to be a harbinger of the company's eventual relaunch, Dow Jones reported. Two Airbus A320s, operated by Mexicana, flew to Acapulco from Mexico City and back to re-certify their engines, Labor Minister Javier Lozano said in a posting on his Twitter account. "Next week there will be more Mexicana flights for the company's certification," he said.

Aviacsa is expected to receive authorization from IFECOM, Mexico’s insolvency regulator, and the Ministry of Communications and Transport (SCT) to exit bankruptcy this week, ElEconomista.mx reported. According to figures that have been released, the airline has debts of 1.7 billion pesos, including a 950 million peso liability to Mexico’s tax authority, Servicio de Administración Tributaria (SAT). In August 2009, a federal judge granted Aviacsa entry to concurso proceedings, weeks after the SCT suspended flight operations for safety violations.

Judge Stuart M. Bernstein on Wednesday approved Comercial Mexicana's exit from chapter 15 protection in the U.S., the final step in the Mexican supermarket chain's restructuring of $1.54 billion in debt, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported on Friday. The order brings an end to Comercial Mexicana's U.S. bankruptcy case, which was filed after the supermarket chain sought protection under Mexico's equivalent of chapter 11.

A New York State Judge has approved a debt restructuring deal between retailer Comercial Mexicana and its creditors, the company said yesterday in a filing with the Mexican stock exchange, Reuters reported yesterday. Comerci defaulted on its obligations in late 2008 following heavy losses on currency derivatives bets, triggering a bitter battle with its creditors. The supermarket operator's plan to repay creditors about $1.5 billion over eight years was approved by a Mexican court in late November. Comerci also filed for chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in the United States.

Mexican glassmaker Vitro, which has been struggling with high debt and falling sales, said it filed a restructuring plan with a local court, Reuters reported. The Monterrey-based company, which makes everything from beer bottles to perfume containers for international luxury brands, also said on Tuesday that it would seek protection from creditors under a Chapter 15 proceeding in U.S. courts once a Mexican judge approves its plan. Vitro's initiative calls for the restructuring of $1.5 billion of debt with a combination of new notes due 2019, convertible bonds and a cash payment.

Mexico's largest glass maker, Vitro SAB, said it intends to file a prepackaged restructuring plan under that country's bankruptcy law no later than next Thursday, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The company, which recently launched a plan to restructure some $1.2 billion in debt, said Wednesday it has the "requisite majority" of votes to proceed with a prepackaged plan under concurso mercantil, Mexico's equivalent of Chapter 11.

Vitro SAB responded to creditors attempting to push 15 of its U.S. units into bankruptcy, saying the four investment funds are attempting to "hijack" a reorganization process in Mexico that is already underway, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The Mexican glass maker's statement, filed Monday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Fort Worth, Texas, comes nearly two weeks after the funds, which list claims of $75.6 million against Vitro, filed an involuntary Chapter 11 petition against the company in that court.

A Mexican court has approved the $1.54 billion pre-packaged debt restructuring of retailer Comercial Mexicana, which had the approval of 98% of creditors, the company said Wednesday, Dow Jones reported. Comercial Mexicana said in a press release that the ruling brings an end to its filing under the local equivalent of Chapter 11, and that it will proceed to carry out the agreements reached with creditors.

Compania Mexicana de Aviacion SA, Mexico’s biggest airline by passengers, won its request for bankruptcy protection from U.S. creditors, after disputes were resolved with a bank and a group of airports, Bloomberg reported. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn in Manhattan court today approved Mexicana’s request for protection under Chapter 15 of the U.S. bankruptcy code. The ruling will help the 87-year-old company reorganize in its main bankruptcy in Mexico by giving it a legal shield from U.S. creditors.