Category Archives: bankruptcy

Chrysler preparing bankruptcy filing.

From MSNBC via the NYT:

The Treasury Department is preparing a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing for struggling U.S. automaker Chrysler that could come as soon as next week, according to a New York Times report.

People with direct knowledge of the action told the newspaper that the U.S. Treasury has an agreement in principle with the United Automobile Workers union, whose members’ pensions and retiree health care benefits would be protected as a condition of the bankruptcy filing.

Wonder when GM will do the same? From the NYT writeup linked above:

Moreover, Fiat of Italy would complete its alliance with Chrysler while the company is under bankruptcy protection.

The only major question that remains unresolved is what happens to Chrysler’s lenders, who hold $6.9 billion in company debt. The government’s most recent offer, presented Wednesday, would give the company’s lenders about 22 cents on the dollar, or $1.5 billion, and a 5 percent equity stake in a reorganized Chrysler. Earlier this week, a steering committee of the lenders proposed that they receive 65 cents on the dollar, or $4.5 billion, and a 40 percent equity stake.

Officials at Chrysler and the Treasury were not immediately available for comment.

sigh

Oil Company files Chapter 11


Flying J is a big player here in Kern County. They bought Shell’s old refinery here last year and had big plans to modernize the plant and increase the amount of oil it refines.

Guess those plans are in the crapper now with the news that they filed Chapter 11. From Bloomberg:

Flying J Inc., an oil refiner, transporter and travel-center owner, filed for bankruptcy, blaming a cash crisis brought on by declines in oil prices.

The Ogden, Utah-based company listed assets of more than $1 billion and debt of $500 million to $1 billion in court documents filed today in Wilmington, Delaware.

Flying J expects to recover from “the precipitous drop in the price of oil” by reorganizing under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code, Chief Executive Officer J. Phillip Adams said in court papers.

The company employs about 16,000 people and is among the 20 biggest closely held companies in the U.S., with sales of more than $16.2 billion in 2007, according to court records. Founded in 1968 with four gasoline stations, it now operates 200 travel centers, two refineries and a 700-mile (1,126-kilometer) pipeline that carries gasoline and diesel from Houston to El Paso, Texas, according to court filings.

Flying J’s cash crisis has grown as oil prices have tumbled, Adams said in court documents. Since September, the company’s access to cash has dropped by $155 million.

On Dec. 19, Bank of American NA seized a “substantial sum of cash” from one of Flying J’s units because the company had allegedly violated loan terms. The bank is the agent for lenders owed $395 million. The next day, another agent refused to allow a different Flying J unit from withdrawing cash from an account, the company said.

Affiliates Longhorn Partners Pipeline LP, Longhorn Pipeline Holdings and Longhorn Pipeline, Big West of California, Big West Oil, Big West Transportation, also sought protection.

Good ole Bank of America…god I hate those bastards…and they got a big wad of our tax monies recently ya know….

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