Bankruptcy Assistance

Bankruptcy Assistance

In The News

President Signs $15 Billion Airline Relief Package President Bush on September 21st signed a $15 billion disaster relief package for the airlines, many facing bankruptcy and massive rounds of layoffs following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks by high jacked jetliners, Dow Jones reported. Both the House and the Senate passed the legislation with an overwhelming majority vote. The legislation will immediately infuse $5 billion in cash into the affected air carriers and authorizes another $10 billion for the industry in federal loan guarantees. The bill sets aside $120 million to ensure companies don’t cut service to rural areas. It also creates a fund for the families of victims killed in the twin assaults on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the use of which would preempt plaintiffs from filing separate suits against the airlines.

The legislation additionally limits airlines’ exposure to lawsuits related to injuries or damage on the ground by capping liability at the amount of insurance the companies’ had on the day of the attack. It also helps pay for increased insurance premiums due to claims made as a result of the Sept. 11 attacks. The bill places a few conditions on airlines that receive federal aid in an effort to address some lawmakers’ concerns that the airlines are getting a blank check. It bars airline executives that earn more than $300,000 a year from earning more in 2001 than they did in 2000. In addition, lawmakers included a separate provision, specifically authorizing the president to use $3 billion of a separate $40 billion disaster aid bill to improve airport and airline security.

House and Senate leaders pledged to work on additional legislation that will more fully address security issues as well as compensation for displaced workers. “We really have a long, long way to go if we’re going to address the families affected as a result of layoffs, as a result of bankruptcies,” Daschle said. “Security and additional compensation and a safety net for all of those workers that have been left out will continue to be addressed.”

Analyst Says Aid Package Might Trigger Airline Bankruptcies

The $15 billion federal aid package handed to faltering U.S. airlines could trigger bankruptcy filings among the weaker carriers with less financial flexibility, Credit Suisse First Boston analyst James Higgins said on September 24th, Reuters reported. “Since any company needs cash to reorganize under bankruptcy protection, the aid package could be the trigger for chapter 11 filings in situations where liquidity is questionable,” he said.

Higgins said the aid might provide less of a cushion for carriers such as America West Holdings and US Airways Group. He said investors in those two airlines should consider such a bankruptcy, especially since the criteria for receiving aid remains unclear. Federal assistance created enough uncertainty to focus investment interest on the carriers with the strongest liquidity, such as AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines, Higgins said.

U.S. Bankruptcy, Civil Case Files to be Placed Online
U.S. courts will make civil and bankruptcy court files available on the Internet, judicial officials announced in September, capping a two-year debate about the proper balance between public access and personal privacy, Reuters reported. The group said criminal files should be left offline for the time being, and sensitive personal details like bank account numbers should be left out as well. The Judicial Conference of the United States, a group of 27 judges that sets policy for the federal court system, reached its decision by mail vote after a week-long delay due to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The conference gave the green light for individual courts to make bankruptcy and civil-case filings available to anyone with an Internet connection. All the documents in question are publicly available in the courthouses in which they were filed, but any of 500 million Internet users will be able to access them once courts install the necessary equipment.

The conference agreed to partially block certain personal identifiers such as Social Security and bank account numbers, birth dates, and names of underage children to deter identity theft and other abuses. The conference also decided not to make criminal cases available online, saying the widespread availability of such documents could hinder ongoing investigations, endanger victims and witnesses, and make defendants less likely to cooperate with prosecutors.>Judges plan to revisit the decision within two years.

Dot-Com Carnage Continues As 55 Firms Close in April Fifty-five dot-coms shut down in April, 2001, according to a report by advisory and research company Webmergers.com released Tuesday. That number is up from 44 in March, but down from the
58 closures in February. At least 435 Internet companies have folded since January 2000, and nearly half of all the shutdowns in the past 16 months have taken place this year. The report said
that the Internet shakeout is now beginning to infect new sectors such as Internet consulting and Internet access providers. Bankrupt Fine Air Services Files Reorganization Plan With Court

Bankrupt Fine Air Services Corp. announced on May 21st that it filed its reorganization plan with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida, according to the Associated Press. The Miami-based air cargo carrier, which flies to Latin America and the Caribbean, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last September, citing rising fuel prices and economic troubles in Latin America.

The plan proposes that Bank of America provide continued financing through a payment plan to trade creditors and conversion of the company’s bonds to equity and performance notes.The plan will be presented to the court for confirmation in July.

Atlantic Gulf Communities Files For Chapter 11

Atlantic Gulf Communities Corp. and several of its affiliates announced on May 1st that they filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del.,
according to Dow Jones. The company listed assets of $148.5 million and debts of $170.3 million and said that it has more than 1,000 creditors. The companies included in the filing were
AGC-SP Inc., West Bay Holding Corp., Spring Valley Holding Co. and A.G. Assisted Living Inc. The Sunrise, Fla.-based Atlantic Gulf and its affiliates acquire, develop and sell luxury resort real estate projects and residential home sites.

Planet Hollywood Auditor Doubts Company Can Be Going Concern Planet Hollywood International Inc.’s independent auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, announced on April 18th that it has substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue, according to Dow Jones. Although Planet Hollywood emerged from bankruptcy last year, PricewaterhouseCoopers said the restaurant chain continues to have “significant” operating losses, according to Planet Hollywood's 2000 annual report filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. U.S.A. Floral files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

MIAMI, April 2 (Reuters) - Wholesale flower distributor U.S.A. Floral Products (OTC BB:ROSI.OB - news) said on Monday that it and 16 of its U.S. units had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and said it is in talks to sell a number of its domestic and international operations. The company said the bankruptcy filing does not affect its international operations.

U.S.A. Floral said the filing would allow it to continue business operations while it completes the sale of its international operations and some of its domestic business units, and a wind-down of its remaining domestic operations. The company said it expects that all proceeds from these sales will be distributed to creditors and that no proceeds will be available for distribution to its shareholders.

``We are currently in negotiations with buyers for many of the individual operations in our U.S. Bouquet and Import Divisions,'' Michael Broomfield, U.S.A. Floral Products' chief executive, said in a statement.

House OKs Everglades Bill The House set aside partisan animosity for a moment and pased an Everglades restoration bill that both sides hailed as a testimony to what can be achieved when they work together. After the 312-2 vote on the Everglades bill, one of the largest environmental restoration projects ever, lawmakers quickly agreed to recess and streamed for the exits. The Everglades bill gave the majority party a chance to leave on a high note, presenting a legislative gift to the election battleground state of Florida and showing what Congress can accomplish when the two parties cooperate. ``Some have said Republicans can't work with Democrats to produce good policy,'' said Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fla., the chief sponsor of the bill, who returns home to a competitive re-election race. The joint effort shows ``we can do good things for our country and for our entire globe.'' The Everglades project, part of a $7 billion water resources package, was universally popular: Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said he was ``thrilled'' by acceptance of ``this century's biggest and most important environmental restoration project.'' National Airlines Files Bankruptcy
National Airlines filed chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada on December 6, 2000,but said its service would not be interrupted, according to the Associated Press. The
airline blamed its financial troubles on rising fuel costs. National Airlines, marketed as a hometown airline that could bring more tourists to Las Vegas, began service on May 27, 1999. National offers service to Chicago Midway, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, N.J., New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Service to Chicago O'Hare is scheduled to begin on Jan. 25. In September, the company had its two millionth passenger.

Lenders Leave Premier Cruise Dead in the Water

MIAMI - Souring thousands of vacations, Premier Cruise Line ceased operations on September 14, 2000, after U.S. investment bank Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette seized the company's Big Red Boats and other ships.

Premier chief executive Bruce Nierenberg said DLJ held mortgages on five Premier ships, that the company was behind on debt payments, and DLJ had taken control of the ships with an eye to selling them in order to recover $49 million in debts. A spokeswoman for DLJ, which controls a reported 80 percent of Premier after restructuring $180 million of debt, declined to discuss financial details but said the Wall Street firm seized five ships after hearing talk other, unnamed creditors of Premier's were considering taking control of the vessels.

The financial moves on Premier, a small competitor in the cruise sector where giants hold sway, forced ashore 2,800 or more Premier passengers in ports at Cozumel, Mexico, the Bahamas and Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Canada's Atlantic coast. Port authority officials in Halifax said more than 2,000 passengers were grounded after three Premier ships -- the Rembrandt, the Seabreeze and the Big Red Boat II -- were taken over by Sheriff's Department of Halifax.

Passengers said the luxury liners favored by families and older travelers were making their way along the Canadian east coast when the captain told them the ship would have to dock at Halifax. Some said they were allowed just 15 minutes to gather possessions.

Officials of Premier said many passengers had been flown to home ports in Florida and Texas. Others would return to Boston and New York and some 300 passengers aboard a Premier ship out of Houston were continuing on to Nassau, the Bahamas, where the seized ship will be kept.