Bankrupt primary aluminium producer ZALCO is in talks with eight potential buyers for a takeover of part or all of its plant in Zeeland, the Netherlands, the company's receiver said on Wednesday. ZALCO, which has a production capacity of 275,000 tonnes per year of aluminium, filed for bankruptcy in mid-December. The plant, which had employed 500 people, was shut down a few days later due to lack of funding to pay energy suppliers.
Read more
Dutch primary aluminium producer ZALCO is looking for a buyer to restart its plant, which was shut on Friday due to lack of funds after the company filed for bankruptcy last week, an official receiver said, Reuters reported. "The company filed for bankruptcy last Tuesday, and on Friday we decided to shut down the plant due to lack of funds; we couldn't pay the energy bills," Ernst Butterman, one of the two official receivers, told Reuters in a phone interview on Monday.
Read more
Ailing Swedish carmaker Saab on Friday appeared to have fended off a demand for one of its units to be declared bankrupt when it reached a settlement with a supplier, Reuters reported. Shares in Swedish Automobile, Saab's Dutch parent which has a stock market value of 35 million euros ($50 million), plunged 40 percent on news of the bankruptcy request, but were trading flat by 1438 GMT after the settlement. However, the supplier's action highlights Saab's precarious situation.
Read more
Dutch bancassurer ING asked a European court on Tuesday to revoke certain terms imposed as part of its state rescue, a move which could postpone asset sales and cut the cost of repayment, Reuters reported. A ruling in ING's favour could give the financial group more time to spin off its insurance operations in two separate initial public offerings (IPOs) and to sell WestlandUtrecht, a small local bank -- divestments which ING must carry out as a condition of its rescue during the credit crisis.
Read more
Dutch investment group Novapars Capital said on Thursday it has agreed to buy the 115 million euro ($163 million) German loan portfolio of DSB Bank, the first sale of the bankrupt Dutch bank's operations, Reuters reported. DSB was declared bankrupt in October 2009 after it was hit by a liquidity crunch when clients withdrew about one-sixth of the group's deposits. The company was later seized by the Dutch central bank, DNB, and its assets are under administration.
Read more
Troubled Swedish carmaker Saab, owned by Netherlands-based Swedish Automobile , said on Tuesday it had offered a deal to suppliers over unpaid debts in an effort to get production restarted, Reuters reported. Saab said on Monday its Trollhattan factory in southern Sweden would be idle for two more weeks after having stood still for most of April and May because it could not pay its suppliers and ran out of parts.
Read more
When Jan Hommen was approached to run ING Groep NV, the timing couldn't have been worse. The Dutchman was just planning to move to the U.S. and spend more time with his children and grandchildren. And, having little experience in banking and insurance, he was far from the obvious choice to guide the Dutch bancassurer through the biggest crisis in its history, The Wall Street Journal reported. "I have to admit that it was a bit disconcerting," he says. "My first thought was: Do I have what it takes to pull this off?" More than two years later, his doubts have faded.
Read more
Spyker Cars NV, which owns the troubled Swedish car maker Saab Automobile, is in talks with three Chinese companies about possible investments, according to two people familiar with the situation, as the Dutch car maker Friday cut its 2011 sales outlook and reported an operating loss for the first quarter. The Chinese companies are Great Wall Motor Co., China Youngman Automobile Group Co. and Jiangsu Yueda Group Co., two people familiar with the matter told Dow Jones Newswires.
Read more
The future of Saab Automobile remained uncertain Tuesday after its Dutch owner Spyker Cars NV said it had to fulfill additional conditions to win approval for its short-term funding plans and was unsure whether it could fulfill these conditions within a short period of time, The Wall Street Journal reported. Separately, parts suppliers said they would soon have to start laying off workers as a production suspension continued at Saab Automobile's plant in Trollhattan, Sweden.
Read more
A fund controlled by billionaire investor Len Blavatnik has been asked to return EUR100 million ($145.8 million) to the bankruptcy estate of chemical giant LyondellBasell Industries, which emerged from Chapter 11 protection last year but left a trustee to file lawsuits to recover funds for the company's unsecured creditors, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. In a lawsuit filed Friday with the U.S.
Read more