Mexico

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.

Mexican satellite company Satelites Mexicanos SA de C.V. has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection under a restructuring plan that will allow it to launch its new satellite next year, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The company, known as Satmex, said its bankruptcy-exit plan took effect on May 26. Satmex, which emerged from an earlier Chapter 11 restructuring in 2006, reached a deal on the plan with most of its noteholders before it sought bankruptcy protection in April.

A Mexican court threw out an involuntary bankruptcy proceeding against glassmaker Vitro on Friday, easing the way for its own prepackaged bankruptcy to proceed, the company said on Monday, Reuters reported. The court in Monterrey, where the company is based, ruled on Friday against the involuntary bankruptcy petition filed by creditors, but made its decision public on Monday. Vitro, which has been fighting with creditors over its plans to restructure about $3.4 billion in debt, filed its own bankruptcy plan in December.

Vitro SAB’s massive bankruptcy case, which spans two countries and has played out in at least six courts, has one simple purpose, say the company’s bondholders: keep Mexico’s Sada family at the helm of the glass maker, the Bankruptcy Beat blog reported. The reorganization plan that Vitro is pursuing in Mexico would force bondholders to accept a $650 million loss on their investment while leaving the company’s stockholders, including the Sadas, virtually untouched, said John Cunningham, an attorney for the bondholders, at a hearing held Wednesday in the U.S.

Mexican glass maker Vitro SAB said Monday that it won an appeal at a Mexican court and can continue with its prepackaged debt restructuring under the local equivalent of Chapter 11, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Vitro, which faces creditor opposition to its proposed restructuring, suffered a setback in January when a separate court ruled against the plan to vote $1.9 billion in intercompany debt as a way of securing sufficient creditor support for the pre-packaged restructuring proposal.

Mexican satellite company Satelites Mexicanos SA de C.V. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday after reaching a deal on a restructuring plan with most of its noteholders, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The company, which emerged from an earlier Chapter 11 restructuring in 2006, sought protection from creditors in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., listing assets of $441.6 million and liabilities of $531.6 million.

A new group of noteholders has signed on to support a prepackaged bankruptcy plan for Mexican satellite company Satelites Mexicanos S.A. de C.V., which emerged from an earlier Chapter 11 restructuring in 2006, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The company, known as Satmex, said more than 66% of the holders of its first priority senior secured notes due 2011 executed a restructuring support agreement with the company, under which they agree to back the company's prepackaged Chapter 11 plan.

Mexican mortgage lender Hipotecaria Su Casita said Thursday it expects soon to conduct a swap and restructuring of around 7.4 billion ($612 million) in debt which includes transferring up to 50% of its equity to creditors, Dow Jones reported. The company fell into default last year as a result of the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. Su Casita, Mexico's largest nonbank mortgage lender which is 40% owned by Spanish bank Caja Madrid, said it's offering to exchange existing peso-denominated notes for MXN2.5 billion in new seven-year guaranteed notes and shares for up to 38.4% of its equity.

Grounded airline Mexicana de Aviacion, whose emergence from bankruptcy protection was dealt a setback last week, says it's in talks with potential new investors and hopes to return to the skies by the Easter holiday week, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. But fuel prices, which have risen sharply as political tensions in the Middle East and North Africa threaten oil production, add to the uncertainty surrounding the airline's chances at making a comeback.