The battle for bankrupt copper miner Asarco LLC continued this week, as the debtor urged creditors to approve a newly filed reorganization plan that reflects a revised offer from India-based Sterlite Industries Ltd., Bankruptcy Law360 reported. The sixth amended Chapter 11 plan filed Monday includes a deal to sell Asarco's assets to Sterlite, a subsidiary of London-based Vedanta Resources PLC, for $1.1 billion in cash and a $770 million promissory note.

Further fattening its offer to reclaim bankrupt mining company Asarco LLC, Grupo Mexico SAB de CV affiliate Americas Mining Corp. has filed another reorganization proposal for Asarco, under which it would make $3.1 billion available to pay back claims — including setting up an asbestos liability trust — and bring the company out of Chapter 11, Bankruptcy Law360 reported. The upped bid is one of three competing plans to reorganize bankrupt Asarco. Under the other plans, Asarco would either be sold to India-based Sterlite Industries Ltd.

Strains in pensions systems, in both private and public provision, threaten to turn the financial crisis of the past two years into a social crisis lasting for decades, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development warned on Tuesday. In its annual analysis of the health of pensions systems globally, the Paris-based organisation found private pension plans lost 23 per cent of their value last year, while higher unemployment “leaves little room for more generous public pensions”, the Financial Times reported.

Grupo Mexico SAB, Mexico's largest mining company, said Tuesday it is offering $2.9 billion in a new reorganization plan to take its U.S. copper unit, Asarco LLC, out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, where it has languished since August 2005, The Wall Street Journal reported. Grupo Mexico's fight to regain control of the Tucson, Ariz., company--which is being run by an independent board set up by the bankruptcy court--is part of a long-running saga that has played out across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Grupo Mexico SAB was ordered by a U.S. judge to put into escrow $8.84 billion worth of stock in its Southern Copper Corp. while it appeals a decision it lost in a Texas court, Bloomberg reported. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen in Brownsville, Texas, ruled yesterday that Grupo’s Americas Mining unit must set aside the stock after losing a lawsuit and being ordered to return 260 million shares of Southern Copper to Asarco LLC along with $1.38 billion in cash.

The tug-of-war over the rights to Asarco LLC continues, with parent company Grupo Mexico SAB de CV protesting a bankruptcy court's apparent protection of Sterlite Industries Ltd.'s $1.7 billion bid to acquire the bankrupt copper mining unit, Bankruptcy Law360 reported. While Sterlite appears to have the edge, Grupo Mexico is not out of the running yet to regain control of the indirect subsidiary. Earlier this month, Judge Schmidt extended until Sept.

Mexico is in “very advanced” discussions to make financing available to local units of U.S. automakers if they need help to keep their Mexican plants operating, an Economy Ministry official said. The loans would be made through Mexico’s development bank, known as Nafinsa, and secured by accounts receivable, inventories and possibly assets such as land and machinery, said Lorenza Martinez, undersecretary for industry and commerce.

A judge has signed off on a deal to allow India-based Sterlite Industries Ltd. to buy bankrupt mining firm Asarco LLC for $1.7 billion, while leaving the door open for Asarco parent Grupo Mexico SAB to file a competing plan, Bankruptcy Law360 reported. Read more. (Subscription required.)

Asarco LLC, the bankrupt Grupo Mexico SAB unit, must wait for a ruling on its proposed sale to Sterlite Industries Ltd., India’s biggest copper producer, for $1.1 billion in cash and a $600 million note. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Richard Schmidt declined to rule on Asarco’s request to sign a sale contract with Sterlite at a hearing today in Corpus Christi, Texas. Lawyers for the buyer said they would try to get an extension of tomorrow’s deadline to allow the judge more time to reach a decision.

Mexican mining company Grupo Mexico SAB threw a fresh punch in its fight to retain U.S. copper subsidiary Asarco LLC, pledging $1.3 billion in cash to take the unit out of Chapter 11 proceedings and defeat a rival bid by Vedanta Resources PLC, The Wall Street Journal reported. Though Vedanta's deal to acquire Asarco has a higher total--$1.7 billion--it includes just $1.1 billion in cash, plus a note for $600 million. A U.S. bankruptcy judge will have to determine which offer better serves Asarco's many creditors, including the U.S.