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.

Officials running the European insolvency proceedings of Nortel Networks Corp. are threatening to sue Nortel's U.S. unit for allegedly stripping value from the company's European divisions and diverting it to other areas of the company, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. In a filing with the court overseeing the bankruptcy of the U.S. unit, the court-appointed administrators responsible for Nortel's European units say they need to beat the clock to begin legal action in Ireland and Britain. Time may run out as soon as Dec.

AbitibiBowater Inc. has set its sights on renewed growth after emerging from creditor protection with a revamped balance sheet and about $6 billion less debt than when it declared bankruptcy about 19 months ago, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. "I think it's a very exciting new chapter in the company's history after several years of fighting a declining market and a pretty drastic recession," Dick Evans, the Montreal company's chairman, said in an interview.

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.

French bank Natixis Thursday denied allegations made by a trustee seeking to recover assets for victims of Bernard Madoff's investment fraud, The Wall Street Journal reported. A lawsuit filed late Wednesday is seeking around $1.4 billion from seven U.S. and European banks, including Natixis. The trustee, Irving Picard, said the lawsuits, which were filed under seal, accuse the banks of overlooking warning signals about Mr. Madoff's fraud while receiving transfers of money from his firm through so-called "feeder funds" that invested most or all of their assets with him.

AbitibiBowater, the large newsprint maker formed through a merger three years ago, announced it had emerged from bankruptcy protection on Thursday, the International Herald Tribune reported. Debt and declining newsprint demand in North America led the company to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware, as well as similar protection under Canadian receivership laws, in April 2009. The restructuring cut the $8.78 billion in debt to just over $1 billion, mainly by having creditors exchange their claims for equity.

The trustee overseeing the bankruptcy of Bernard Madoff's investment firm joined an English liquidator on Wednesday in filing an $80 million lawsuit against former directors of the convicted felon's London operation, including his sons and brother, and related entities, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The suit was filed in the United Kingdom's High Court of Justice Commercial Court by trustee Irving Picard and Stephen J. Akers, a joint liquidator of Madoff Securities International Ltd.

Famed-but-failed Calgary chocolatier Bernard Callebaut, the man, is attempting to rebuild his once-proud empire with a new sweets company starting this week. His chief competitor is Bernard Callebaut, the company he founded 27 years ago, The Canadian Press reported. His stores, his recipes and the rights to his name are no longer his he went into receivership earlier this year. He will rely on his skills, pedigree and reputation to craft a new run. The company went into receivership in August. Callebaut made a bid to buy the business back from the receiver, but on Oct.