The management of German rooftop PV installer and module manufacturer Centrosolar has unveiled an insolvency plan, which has been approved by the company’s creditors’ committee. The main thrust of the plan is that Centrosolar will in future focus on the US market, trading as Centrosolar America. The plan still requires several further stages of approval before it can be implemented, PV-Tech reported. Centrosolar said that in order to save costs, the parent company will be “slimmed down” considerably.
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Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc's bankruptcy estate has struck a deal to resolve a five-year-long dispute involving its Swiss affiliate, clearing the way to distribute $1.8 billion to creditors, Reuters reported. The deal would enable the estate of Lehman to resolve one of its largest outstanding claims since the investment bank's September 2008 collapse, a major spark in the global financial crisis, and close a settlement from last year with Lehman Brothers Finance AG, the Swiss affiliate that specialized in equities derivatives. The settlement with the Swiss unit was approved by the U.S.
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Honduras’s credit rating was cut by Moody’s Investors Service after the Central American nation’s deficit surged last year and the government boosted sales of short-term domestic debt, Bloomberg News reported. Moody’s lowered Honduras’s credit rating to B3 from B2 today, putting the $18.4 billion economy in the same category as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Argentina. The move comes about one month after President Juan Orlando Hernandez took office vowing to tackle the deficit and as his finance minister seeks an accord with the International Monetary Fund.
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The TSX-listed stock of North American gold producer Veris Gold on Monday climbed after the company announced that a restructuring committee announced earlier this month was investigating strategic alternatives and to plan the financial restructuring of the company, Mining Weekly reported. The special committee had retained investment bank Raymond James & Associates as its sole investment banking advisor to provide financial advice concerning a variety of potential business transactions that may be undertaken in the course of the financial restructuring of the company.
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The drawn-out period of forbearance agreements between LDK Solar and US bondholders looks over and the heavily indebted PV manufacturer could start insolvency proceedings in the Cayman Islands should bondholders not agree on a settlement, PV-Tech reported. LDK Solar said that it had made considerable progress with its key offshore creditors in line with two options, both proving hard for creditors of its convertible notes to bear. The company said that it remained optimistic about reaching a settlement in the next few days.
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Suntech Power Holdings Corp., the Chinese solar-panel maker that defaulted on $541 million of bonds, filed for bankruptcy court protection from U.S. creditors as it liquidates in the Cayman Islands, Bloomberg News reported. The company filed its Chapter 15 petition late Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan as part of a restructuring agreement with petitioners seeking an involuntary filing last year. In November, Suntech told the court that the proposed action by U.S. creditors could derail restructuring efforts.
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The Joint Select Committee (JSC) to review the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Bill is scheduled to have an all day meeting today at Gordon House, starting at 10:00 am, the Jamaica Observer reported. The committee was named last month after the Bill was tabled in the Senate by Minister of Justice, Senator Mark Golding. It is comprised of 14 members from both the House and the Senate, but is chaired by Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Anthony Hylton.
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Pressure is building on Mobilicity to lock down a deal with a buyer as one of its suppliers is now pushing for payment of $1.7-million in fees owing. Mobilicity, known formally as Data and Audio-Visual Enterprises (DAVE) Wireless, is under court protection from its creditors, but an order staying legal action against the carrier is set to expire on Feb. 26, the Financial Post reported. Amdocs Canadian Managed Services Inc. – the company that provides Mobilicity’s customer service and support systems – has filed a motion with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for that date.
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China's Wanxiang Group won court approval Tuesday to take over failed luxury hybrid-car maker Fisker Automotive Inc. after successfully outbidding Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li in an auction, The Wall Street Journal reported. Mr. Li's takeover vehicle, Hybrid Tech Holdings, signaled it would move to collect most of the $149.2 million Wanxiang is paying, exercising its rights as Fisker's senior secured lender to trump the claims of Fisker's unpaid suppliers. Judge Kevin Gross approved the sale of Fisker's assets to Wanxiang at a hearing in the U.S.
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Investors have been warned by Fitch that losses from the next leveraged finance default cycle may be significantly in excess of previous cycles, the Financial Times reported. The agency said this reflected weakening new-issue rating mix in bond and loan markets as leverage levels rise and covenants become increasingly lax, notably in the US but also in Europe. “Knowledge of insolvency regimes will be critical to cross-border investors when determining recovery and pricing in relative creditor rights,” said Sharon Bonelli, Fitch’s managing director in US corporates.
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