United States

A Chapter 11 bankruptcy exit plan by Abengoa SA's main U.S. subsidiary, Abeinsa Holding Inc, violates the law by shielding the Spanish renewable energy parent from lawsuits, according to the U.S. government's bankruptcy watchdog, Reuters reported. The objection by the U.S. Trustee, which typically oversees the administration of bankruptcy cases and polices them for conflicts, threatens to derail Abengoa's high-stakes debt restructuring plan to avoid its own bankruptcy in Spain.

Judges in Canada and the U.S. on Thursday approved materials explaining Nortel Networks Corp.’s creditor-repayment plan, inaugurating the beginning of the end of one of the priciest bankruptcies on record, The Wall Street Journal reported. Thursday’s court hearings launched the formal process of polling creditors on the bankruptcy plans that will end Nortel’s corporate life after eight years in bankruptcy, and divide the $7.3 billion in proceeds from its global going-out-of-business sale.

Spanish renewable energy and engineering firm Abengoa SA has asked a U.S. bankruptcy court to enjoin legal action and future claims by creditors who are unsatisfied with a high-stakes plan to restructure $10 billion of debt, Reuters reported. Abengoa, a Sevilla-based company with a global renewable energy footprint, put its U.S. subsidiaries in Chapter 11 protection this year and filed for Chapter 15 protection from creditors of non-U.S. businesses while it thrashed out a refinancing deal to avoid becoming Spain's largest-ever corporate failure.

Key stakeholders of Essar Steel Algoma Inc. are pursuing a multi-pronged effort to block the purchase of the steel maker by a New York-based private equity fund and a group of lenders, The Globe and Mail reported. Holders of Essar Algoma’s junior and senior notes, the United Steelworkers (USW) union and the port of Algoma are urging the Ontario Superior Court to halt a bid by KPS Capital Partners LP, which is seeking approval by the same court of a purchase agreement it has signed with the Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.-based company.

Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd., which last year became the first Chinese real estate developer to default on dollar bonds, is seeking to use U.S. bankruptcy law to help its debt reorganization in a Hong Kong court, Bloomberg News reported. The Shenzhen, China-based company filed a Chapter 15 petition in Manhattan court Thursday. Companies use that provision of U.S. bankruptcy law to deal with U.S. creditors or lawsuits when reorganizing in another country.

Abengoa SA has filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. as the Spanish energy company continues talks with its banks and bondholders to agree on its plan to restructure billions of dollars in debt, The Wall Street Journal reported. The renewable energy company, which operates around the world, on Monday night filed for chapter 15 protection, the section of the U.S. bankruptcy code dealing with cross-border insolvencies, in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. The bankruptcy filing comes after Abengoa struck a deal with key creditors that gives it more time—through Oct.

Baha Mar Ltd. has filed a plan outlining the way the $3.5 billion stalled resort project in the Bahamas hopes to restructure in chapter 11 ahead of a hearing Friday to dismiss its U.S. bankruptcy case, The Wall Street Journal reported. The structure of the proposed plan swaps the ownership of Baha Mar for new financing, meaning whoever finances the project will end up owning the Bahamian resort, a key driver of the island nation’s economy. The plan also issues replacement debt to the resort’s current lender and unsecured creditors.

The wife of bankrupt developer Sean Dunne wants orders permitting her lawyers to cross-examine a US lawyer about his sworn statements in support of Irish proceedings challenging the validity of transfers of valuable assets by Mr Dunne to his wife the Irish Times reported. The Commercial Court will later this month hear Gayle Dunne’s application for orders permitting the cross-examination of Timothy Miltenberger, who has sworn affidavits on behalf of Richard Coan, the US trustee administering Sean Dunne’s US bankruptcy.

The liquidators of a pair of failed Cayman Islands-based hedge funds run by a former Harvard quarterback are suing Barclays PLC to claw back some $80 million they say was illegally funneled to the bank to cover margin calls, The Wall Street Journal reported. The offshore funds--ICP Strategic Credit Income Fund Ltd. and ICP Strategic Credit Income Master Fund Ltd. -- were so-called feeder funds managed by ICP Asset Management LLC, a money-management firm founded by Thomas C. Priore. Lawyers for the liquidators said in a suit filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York that Mr.

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc said on Wednesday it was seeking court protection from creditors of its Wabush iron ore mine and related assets in Eastern Canada, four months after it sought similar protection for its other Canadian iron ore assets. The U.S.-based iron ore and coal miner said it had concluded that a "more comprehensive restructuring and sale process" would result if it was able to include the Wabush group under the same creditor protection it obtained in January for its larger Bloom Lake iron ore assets in Quebec Superior Court.