Arcapita Bank, a Bahraini investment firm heavily invested in the United States and Europe, said Monday it has filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection in a bid to reorganize the company, the Associated Press reported. The firm, whose investments include U.S. women's apparel retailer J. Jill and British rail company Freightliner, sought Chapter 11 protection after failing to refinance a $1.1 billion loan due on March 28. It said it is using the filing as a way to protect its assets while it works out a turnaround plan. None of the companies Arcapita owns is included in the filing.
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Elpida Memory Inc., the last Japanese maker of computer-memory chips, sought protection from creditors in the U.S. as it pursues a bankruptcy case in Japan. The Tokyo-based chipmaker filed court papers today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, listing more than $1 billion in assets and debt. It asked the court to recognize the Japanese case as the main bankruptcy proceeding. Chapter 15 of the bankruptcy code allows foreign companies reorganizing abroad to protect their assets from creditors and lawsuits in the U.S.
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Units of Berlian Laju Tanker, Indonesia’s largest oil and gas shipping group, filed for Chapter 15 creditor protection in a US bankruptcy court early Wednesday morning, The Jakarta Globe reported on a Reuters story. The company’s units have listed assets and liabilities in the $50 million to $100 million range, according to a filing with the US bankruptcy court in the Southern District of New York. Under US bankruptcy laws, Chapter 15 grants a foreign company protection from creditors looking to seize its assets in the country.
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A major creditor of Proview Electronics, which is challenging Apple Inc.'s use of the iPad trademark, has moved to have the ailing computer monitor maker liquidated, reports said Monday, the Associated Press reported. Taiwan-based Fubon Insurance is seeking $8.68 million in debts and has filed an application to have Proview declared bankrupt, the reports by the Xinhua News Agency and other mainland media said.
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Arctic Glacier Income Fund said Wednesday it will file for a court supervised restructuring under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act that the ice maker said could result in a sale or recapitalization of the business, The Globe and Mail reported on a Canadian Press story. The process has the support both of Arctic Glacier's secured lenders and two of its unitholders, Coliseum Capital Management and Talamod Asset Management, the fund said.
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Hellas Telecommunications Luxembourg II SCA filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy to put on hold certain lawsuits pending against the company in New York State Supreme Court, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. The company, based in London, listed both debt and assets of more than $100 million in documents filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. Chapter 15 protects foreign companies from U.S. lawsuits and creditor claims while a company reorganizes abroad. Hellas Telecommunications Luxembourg is asking the U.S.
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British refinery Coryton will continue to operate for at least three more months after Marcel Van Poecke, a co-founder of insolvent owner Petroplus, teamed up with Morgan Stanley and investor KKR to provide fresh crude supplies, Reuters reported. Coryton is the most coveted asset of the five refineries owned by Petroplus around Europe, traders and analysts say. It has been running at half capacity since banks stopped financing Petroplus in late December.
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The trustee supervising the liquidation of MF Global Holdings Ltd.'s brokerage on Friday said that more than $1.6 billion in customer cash remains out of his grasp, more than previously estimated, The Wall Street Journal reported. Included in that figure for the first time is roughly $700 million in client money residing in the U.K., which is likely to be the center of a legal fight with KPMG, the U.K.-based administrator overseeing the unwinding of MF Global's London-based division. "We now know we're in for a long haul with the U.K.
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Oilsands Quest Inc., which explores for oil in sand deposits in western Canada, is seeking protection from its U.S. creditors and shareholders, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Oilsands, which once did business as CanWest Petroleum Corp., sought the protection of a Canadian court last November. The Calgary, Alberta, company is now asking the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan to recognize the Canadian proceeding and extend its protection to the company in the U.S., where it faces three shareholder lawsuits.
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Mexican glass maker Vitro SAB said Tuesday that a court in Mexico has approved its debt restructuring, but that it expects certain of its bondholders who have fought the deal to continue efforts against the plan, Dow Jones reported. In a press release, Vitro said a judge in Monterrey approved the proposed restructuring put forward by the conciliator in the case. The restructuring of $1.5 billion in third-party debt has caused controversy among bondholders, as it involves Vitro voting on an additional $1.9 billion in intercompany debt to secure the majority needed for approval.
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