Signature Aluminum Canada Inc. has until the end of the week to present a viable restructuring plan before its court-appointed stay of proceedings expires, opening the floodgates for creditors looking to force the struggling company into full-blown bankruptcy, American Metal Market reported.

Catania Chile SA, an independent company and a division of M.L. Catania Co. Ltd., has halted operations in Chile and filed for bankruptcy protection, trade publication The Packer reported. Paul Catania Jr., executive vice president of the Toronto-based parent company, confirmed the closing of Catania Chile and the bankruptcy filing. Catania declined to comment until the matter is resolved in Chilean courts. Of the 513,000 cartons of fruit Catania Chile exported during the 2007-08 season, about 25%, 127,000 cartons, went to the U.S. and Canada.

For the second time in less than five weeks, China’s central bank has moved to limit lending to consumers and businesses by ordering big commercial banks to park a larger share of their deposits at the central bank, The New York Times reported. The step, announced late Friday, came earlier than most economists had expected and was aimed at forestalling a rekindling of inflation by controlling a rapid expansion in bank loans. Families, real estate developers and industrial companies have been borrowing heavily and have started paying more for everything from food to apartments.

Nortel Networks Corp. and units that filed for creditor protection in Canada have reached a settlement agreement on certain matters regarding former Canadian employees, including the company's Canadian registered pension plans, Dow Jones reported. Under the agreement, the former Canadian technology icon will continue to administer the pension plans until Sept. 30. After that date, the plans will be transitioned to a new administrator appointed by the Superintendent of Financial Services.

IT firm Zylog Systems today said it has acquired Canada-based consulting and engineering company Brainhunter for 35 million Canadian dollars (around Rs 150 crore), the Business Standard reported. "This acquisition is through Creditors Arrangement Act bidding process where Zylog emerged as the successful bidder," the company said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Brainhunter is into consulting and engineering services in Canada with major presence in government, telecom, BFSI, and oil & pipeline verticals.

An American-based multinational company interested in buying Grant Forest Products promises to keep the oriented strand board manufacturer operating, Northern News reported. Georgia-Pacific, owned by Koch Industries, signed an agreement to buy Grant Forest Product operations in Englehart, Earlton and South Carolina earlier this month. Grant Forest Products sought protection to restructure under the Companies' Creditors' Arrangement Act in June 2009.

The US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware has granted protection over the US assets of a Cayman Islands exempted company in liquidation, Hedgeweek reported. The company, SIFCO5, is subject to official liquidation proceedings in the Cayman Islands, which the Bankruptcy Court found was eligible for relief under chapter 15 of the US Bankruptcy Code.

Canwest’s main creditors have won backing from a majority of the company’s lenders for a plan to restructure the newspaper publishing chain, despite opposition from Chief Executive Leonard Asper, The Toronto Sun reported. According to McMillan LLP, the legal firm representing the main creditors, 135 lenders holding nearly 77% of the company’s senior secured debt have committed their support to the plan. That “surpasses both thresholds required for the restructuring plan’s approval,” the statement said.

Vitro SAB, the Mexican glassmaker that defaulted on $1 billion of bonds last year, will delay making a second debt-restructuring offer until it receives proof that a group of creditors owns a quarter of the securities, said investor relations chief Adrian Meouchi, Bloomberg reported. A bondholder group that requested Vitro accelerate payments earlier this month failed to provide documentation showing it held at least 25 percent of the defaulted debt, Meouchi said in Jan. 25 telephone interview from Mexico City.

The Canadian Automobile Dealers Association did not fight for more than 200 members told to close by General Motors last year because its interests lay with surviving retailers in the firm's restructuring, a class-action lawsuit says. Although the lawsuit on behalf of affected dealers does not name the association as a defendant, the statement of claim says the umbrella group rejected all pleas for help about their futures, The Toronto Star reported. Trillium Motor World of Toronto sued General Motors of Canada Ltd.