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[Commentary] © 2003 Philip Hyde, The Timesizing Wire™, Box 622 Cambridge MA 02143 USA (617) 623-8080

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Bankruptcies, Sept-Dec/2003

12/31/2003  1 bankruptcy mentioned in (WSJ) Wall Street Journal &/or (NYT) NY Times -

• Aqua-Novus Corp...Chapter 11 liquidation, legal notice, NYT, B3.

• Galey & Lord Inc. et al...Chapter 11...jointly, legal notice, NYT, C5.

• General Chemical Industrial Products Inc...Chapter 11, legal notice, WSJ, B5.

• American Tower Corp., NYT, C4.
  ...said that its Verestar unit had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection....

• J&J Snack Foods Corp., NYT, C4.
  ...agreed to acquire the bakery assets of the bankrupt Country Home Bakers Inc., Atlanta....

• Parmalat plans to seek, pointer (to col.4), WSJ, front page.
  ...bankruptcy-court protection in Italy after disclosing that an account at Bank of America allegedly holding $4.83B doesn't exist. In addition, the dairy company may not have bought back $3.6B in bonds in recent years, giving it much more debt than investors were led to believe.

• Solutia Inc. seeks Chapter 11 status, blames former parent Monsanto, by Blumenthal & Kilman, WSJ, B2.
  ...Solutia listed $2.85B in assets and $3.22B in liabilities....
  [3.22-2.85= 0.37B= $370m net debt.]

• Bankruptcy filings for some Halliburton units, AP via NYT, C4 (//WSJ, A6).
  The Halliburton Co...filed for bankruptcy for some of its subsidiaries in Pittsburgh yesterday, moving ahead[?] on a $4B settlement of asbestos claims. The company, which is based in Houston, said the prenegotiated Chapter 11 filings [sweetheart deals?] would not affect normal operations of the subsidiaries, which include DII Industries and Kellogg Brown & Root. The parent company and Kellogg Brown & Root's government services business, which provides services in Iraq, are not part of the bankruptcy filings....
  [Of course not.]

• Texas Petrochemicals LP, Texas Petrochemical Holdings Inc., TPC Holding Corp., Petrochemical Partnership Holdings Inc., Texas Butylene Chemical Corp...jointly...Chapter 11, legal notice, WSJ, B6.

• HA2003 Inc. [or HA 2003] formerly known as (f/k/a) Ha-Lo Industries, et al...jointly...Chapter 11, legal notice, WSJ, C14.
  Seems like a rapid 2nd bankruptcy for Ha-Lo (see 7/31/2001) and real fast for HA2003 - apparently started and went bust within one year.]

• Cable & Wireless plans U.S. exit; Unit takes a step toward sale, by David Pringle, WSJ, A24.
  LONDON - Cable & Wireless PLC placed its US arm in Chapter 11...as a precursor to a planned sale of the money-losing business to L.A. private-investment firm Gores Technology Group LLC.... The...plan demonstrates how overseas firms are beginning to make use of the protection afforded by US bankruptcy laws to try to reduce their liabilities [eg.q: ABB Ltd with its US combustion-engineering unit]....
  

• Erb Group's holders seek court protection, WSJ, C16.
  ZURICH - All four holding companies that make up Erb Group either have sought - or are expected to seek - court-ordered protection from creditors....
  [The WSJ has not bothered to name the four.]

1. Michael G. Tyson, and Mike Tyson Enterprises Inc...Chapter 11, legal notice, NYT, C8.

2. FAO Inc. to file for bankruptcy, pointer digest (to C6), NYT, C1.
   ...owner of the F.A.O. Schwarz toy stores, plans to file for bankruptcy protection a second time and...immediately liquidate its 89 Zany Brainy stores....
   [It's the toxic takeover-bankruptcy connection - since it follows close on RightStart's 2002 takeover of FAO Schwartz for $155m, plus assets of the bankrupt Zany Brainy chain. (RightStart subsequently namechanged to FAO Inc.)]

• C2 Media LLC et al...Chapter 11...jointly, legal notice, WSJ, C11.

1. The Gingiss Group Inc. et al...Chapter 11 jointly, legal notice, WSJ, B5.
2. Onse Telecom - Debtor in foreign proceedings...Sec.304, Bankruptcy Code, legal notice, WSJ, B5 (//NYT, C2).

• Publisher to close 3 magazines aimed at black readers, by David Carr, NYT, C6.
  Vanguarde Media Inc., publisher of
  1. Savoy,
  2. Honey
  3. and Heart and Soul,
  announced yesterday that it would close the magazines and seek bankruptcy protection....

1. Clift Holdings LLC...Chapter 11, NYT, C9.
   [Though, of course, this may be none other than 8/16-18/2003 #1.]
2. Pan Pharmaceuticals Ltd...liquidation, WSJ, C12.

1. Republic Engineered Products Holdings LLC et al...Chapter 11, legal notice, WSJ, B6.
2. Drax Holdings Ltd...Bankruptcy Code Sec.304 Foreign Proceeding, legal notice, WSJ, C2.

1. Minnethan Land Investors Co...Chapter 11, legal notice, C5.

2. Qwest is seeking, pointer summary (to B4), WSJ, front page.
   ...to buy Allegiance Telecom out of bankruptcy proceedings for about $350m and assumed debt.
   [First we've heard that it was in.]

1. Friends Ivory & Sime Trust Co...liquidation, legal notice, WSJ, B10.
   [Sime or Slime?]

1. Mississippi Chemical Corp. et al...Chapter 11, legal notice, WSJ, B10.
2. Black Sea & Baltic General Insurance Co. Ltd...liquidation, legal notice, WSJ, B10.

1. Metatec Inc...11 USC, legal notice, WSJ, B8.
2. Phylos Inc...Chapter 11, legal notice, WSJ, B8.
3. Reciprocal of America and the Reciprocal Group...liquidation, legal notice, WSJ, B8.

1. Satellite provider to leave bankruptcy, Bloomberg via NYT, C2.
   StarBand Communications, a provider of high-speed satellite Internet service to American homes and small businesses, has won a judge's approval of its plan to leave bankruptcy protection.... StarBand listed about $58m in assets and $229m in debts in its Chapter 11 petition.
   [Didn't catch this one before. 229-58= $171m net debt.]

2. Smart World Technologies LLC et al...Chapter 11 consolidated, legal notice, NYT, C5.

3. Raymark (Industries) Corp/Inc...Chapter 11 jointly, legal notice, NYT, C5.

1. J.A. Jones Inc. et al...Chapter 11 jointly, legal notice, WSJ, B7.
2. Cross Media Marketing Corp. et al...Chapter 11 jointly, legal notice, NYT, C6.

• Feared symbol of Nazi era seeks bankruptcy, by Mark Landler, NYT. W1.
  FRANKFURT...- At its zenith during World War II, I. G. Farben was the world's largest chemical company [oh-oh, we sense what's coming] and a sinister symbol of Nazi industrial might. On Monday [11/10], the company, notorious for producing [here it comes] poison gas and using slave labor during the war, announced that it would file for bankruptcy....
  [It should have been dissolved decades ago. But in fact it was -]
  That news may seem to come after the fact, given that Farben was dismantled by the Allies in 1952 - its factories split among Bayer, BASF and other German chemical companies and its chief scientist condemned as a mass murderer by the Nuremburg war crimes tribunal.
  But I.G. Farben lived on as a trust - a legal entity fought over by court-appointed administrators and Holocaust survivors, who thought that its few remaining assets could be sold to pay restitution.
  Now, in the wake of a failed real estate deal, Farben's administrators said the company [ie: the trust?] would be dissolved, with the proceeds going to repay bank loans rather than Nazi-era victims or their families.
  ...Said Otto Bernhardt, an administrator of the company, which is known formally as I.G. Farbenindustrie in Abwicklung [in winding-up], "I'm very disappointed because I had hoped to raise some money to pay to victims."...
  ["Ich ben sehr enttäuscht, weil ich auf etwas Geld aufzubringen gehoffen hatte, um Öpfern zu bezahlen." (phew!)]

• [City of] Pittsburgh seeks help to avoid bankruptcy, AP via WSJ, C11.

• Bridgeport Holdings Inc., et al...Chapter 11, joint legal notice, WSJ, B6.

1. Halliburton Co - Agreement affirms cash cap on asbestos settlement deals, WSJ, C11.
   ...The company also said a major unit, which includes Kellogg, Brown & Root, will file for bankruptcy court protection next month. The deal...gets back on track to close the books on a legal morass....
   [Halliburton Co. alias "Quagmires 'R Us."]

2. Alliance Communications LLC et al...Chapter 11 jointly, legal notice, WSJ, B7.

3. Chi-Chi's Inc et al...Chapter 11 jointly, legal notice, WSJ, B7.

4. JB Stores Inc f/k/a Jacobson Stores Inc et al...Chapter 11 jointly, legal notice, WSJ, B7.

5. Radio Unica Communications Corp et al...Chapter 11 jointly, legal notice, WSJ, B7 (//NYT, C2).

• Redback Networks Inc...Chapter 11, WSJ, A15 (//NYT, C5).

1. Alliance Communications (Partners) LLC, Delta Video Cable Inc, Piggott Cable TV Co...Chapter 11, joint legal notice, WSJ, B6.

2. AM Communications Inc, et al...Chapter 11, joint legal notice, WSJ, B6.

3. American Commercial Lines LLC...Chapter 11, joint legal notice, WSJ, B6.

4. Eveleth Mines LLC dba EVTAC Mining Co...Chapter 11, joint legal notice, WSJ, B6.
   [addditional alias -]
   ...dba...Thunderbird Mining Co...Chapter 11, joint legal notice, 11/10/2003 WSJ, B6.

1. Bob's Stores Inc. et al...Chapter 11, legal notice, NYT, C7.
   [This "et al" ijncludes BSI Holding Co. Inc. according to legal notice in 6/15/2004 WSJ, B9.]

1. Channel Master ((International) Holdings) Inc/LLC...Chapter 11, legal notice, WSJ, B9.

2. First Interregional Advisors Corp...Chapter 11, legal notice, NYT, C6.

3. Varco Pruden International Inc, VP Buildings/Graham Inc, United Panel Inc, LTV Blanking/Walbridge, LTV Steel de Mexico Ltd, ...Chapter 11, joint legal notice, WSJ, B9.
   [Note we caught the main LTV bankruptcy on 12/30/2000 #1.]

• Gruppo Antica Inc. f/k/a Trend Holdings Inc. et al...Chapter 11, legal notice, WSJ, B5.

1. NRG McClain LLC...Chapter 11, legal notice, WSJ, B14.
   [For NRG Energy, see 11/08/2002 #1 and note in uncounted section below on 5/15/2003.]

2. Trenwick America Corp. et al...Chapter 11, legal notice, WSJ, B14.

3. Quin-T Corp. - New Hampshire...Chapter 11, legal notice, NYT, C7.

1. 10/25 Orbital Imaging, NYT, B5.
   ...Dulles VA, an operator of satellites that photograph the earth's surface and atmosphere, had a bankruptcy judge approve its reorg plan calling for ownership to be turned over to the company's creditors.

2. 10/27 TriTeal Corp...Chapter 11, legal notice, WSJ, B4.

• Plainwell Inc. and Plainwell Holding Co...Chapter 11, legal notice, WSJ, B7.

1. Met-Coil Systems Corp...Chapter 11, legal notice, WSJ, C11.

2. Flag Telecom Holdings Ltd, Flag Atlantic (Holdings) Ltd...liquidation, legal notice, NYT,C8.

1. DDI Corp...Chapter 11, legal notice, WSJ, A22.

1. Horizon Insurance Co..\..liquidation, legal notice, NYT, C11.
2. County Seat Limited Partnership...Chapter 11, legal notice, NYT, C11.

1. Orange Plastics, legal notice, WSJ, B6.

2. Livent (US) Inc et al...Chapter 11, legal notice, NYT, C2.

3. Irwin Toy Ltd, Irwin Toy USA Inc, Irwin International (Barbados) SRL, collectively...Ontario, legal notice, WSJ, B6.

4. Coram Resource Network Inc, Coram Independent Practice Assoc. Inc...Chapter 11, legal notice, WSJ, B6.
   [Compare 12/23/2000 #1.]

5. Clearing Services of America Inc...SIPA liquidation, legal notice, WSJ, B6 (//NYT, C7).

6. Germany: Charter airline collapses, Reuters via NYT, W1.
   ...Aero Lloyd filed for insolvency....

1. Cone Mills Corp...Chapter 11, WSJ, A18.

2. BRAC Rent-a-Car International Inc. f/k/a Budget Rent-a-Car International Inc...Chapter 11, WSJ, B11, //NYT, C10.

1. Chevys restaurants....Chapter 11, NYT, B4.

1. O-Cedar Holdings Inc. et al...Chapter 11, legal notice, WSJ, B7.

1. Prandium Inc. - Two restaurant subsidiaries file for bankruptcy protection, WSJ, B10.
   Restaurant chain...Chi-Chi's Inc...filed for Chapter 11 [with] est. total assets of $50-100m [call it $75m] and total debts of more than $100m [call it $101m]..\..
   [Let's estimate the net debt at 101-75= $26m.]
   12 other affiliates of Chi-Chi's also filed....
   [No namee, no countee.]

2. Prandium Inc. - Two restaurant subsidiaries file for bankruptcy protection, WSJ, B10.
   Restaurant chain...Koo Koo Roo Inc...filed for Chapter 11 [with] total assets of $1-10m and total debts of $1-10m....
   [It's a scrub.]

3. Prandium Inc. - Two restaurant subsidiaries file for bankruptcy protection, WSJ, B10.
   ...Prandium Inc...emerged from its own bankruptcy case in July 2002....
   [We didn't catch the parent's bankruptcy so we'll count it now. Outraged at our thusly 'exaggerating' the bad news ? Note the 12 we didn't count in item #1 above.]

4. Hitachi Seiki USA, Inc...Chapter 11, legal notice, NYT, C2.

5. Data Transmission Network Corp, et al...Chapter 11, legal notice, WSJ, B11.

6. Arig Insurance Co. Ltd...Bermuda, legal notice, WSJ, B11.

7. Hampton Re Holdings Ltd...liquidation...Bermuda, legal notice, WSJ, B11.

• For richer, for poorer, book review of Elizabeth Warren's & Amelia Tyagi's "The Two-Income Trap", reviewed by Meghan Gurdon, WSJ, D6.
  ...The rush of [millions of] Mommies into the workplace has had the paradoxical effect of making families less secure, less flexible and poorer....
  [That would follow from their worsening the labor surplus alread begun by the babyboomers hitting the job market.]
  What of the divorced Mommies? The women's movement promised they'd be just as well off economically without the Daddies, thanks to wage increases and child-support payments - but no. "Our data show that despite their amazing advancements at work, in school, and in the courts, [single mothers] are actually less secure than they were just 25 years ago," the authors write. Indeed, such women are more likely to file for bankruptcy than any other group....

1. Marlon Insurance Co. fka Skandia Marine Insurance (UK) and Vesta (UK) Insurance; National Insurance & Guarantee; and Riverstone (Stockholm) Insurance Corp. fka Odyssey Re and Amphion-Aequitas Re...Section 304 [simultaneous], WSJ, B2.

1. Ogden New York Services Inc. at al...Chapter 11, NYT, C8.
2. Whiting National Insurance Co..\..liquidation, NYT, C8.

• Mosaic Group Inc., Mosaic Sales Solutions/Mktg & Technology Solutions (II)/Investments Corp., Field Energy Services Ltd, Medium One Productions Inc., WSJ, C13.
  [This appears to be a Canadian collection, possibly related to Mosaic Corp. (US) Inc. of 6/13/2003 #2, below.]

1. Impath Co. - Bankruptcy filing is made amid debt of $127.3m, WSJ, D8.
2. James River Coal Co. et al...Chapter 11, WSJ, B11 (//NYT, C6).
3. APP China Group, NYT, C16.

1. Botanicals International Extracts Inc, Hauser Inc, et al...Chapter 11, WSJ, B13.
2. Kingdom Group LLC...Chapter 7, WSJ, B13.
   [So they're dissolving the Kingdom?!]

• MCSI Inc., et al....Chapter 11...jointly, WSJ, B7.

• Metro Affiliates Inc. et al...Chapter 11...jointly, NYT, C8.

• Venture Holdings Co. LLC et al., WSJ, B7.

• David Schick & Venture Mortgage Corp. & Fund...Chapter 11...jointly, NYT, C10.

1. NorthWestern Corp. is seeking bankruptcy protection, Bloomberg via NYT, C4.
   ...a Montana utility owner and energy trader...based in Sioux Falls, S.D. [huh?]..\..with $1.76B of debt...Chapter 11....

2. Fansteel Inc...Chapter 11, WSJ, B15.

3. Facing huge debt, large farm co-op is closing down - Farmland Industries [Kansas City, Mo.] battled major food conglomerates, NYT, C1.

4. Company [Scotland's PPL Therapeutics] that cloned sheep [Dolly, '96] to sell assets and shut down, NYT, W1.

5. Professional women's soccer folded, WSJ, front page.
   ...The Women's United Soccer Assoc.

1. Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings expects to file prepackaged Chapter 11, NYT, B4.
   [associated names -]
   Atlas Worldwide Aviation Logistics Inc., Atlas Air Inc., Atlas Worldwide Holdings Inc., Polar Air Cargo Inc., Airline Acquisition Corp., 2/18/2004 WSJ, C15.

2. Snyder's Drug Stores files for [Ch.11] bankruptcy, NYT, B4.

• Plassein International Corp., et al...Chapter 11, WSJ, B5.

1. Micro Warehouse, NYT, C3.
   ......Norwalk, Conn...filed for bankruptcy protection.

2. Hollywood publisher seeks bankruptcy after losing suit, NYT, C2.
   ...New Millennium Entertainment....

• Scanning for trouble - Medical-screening businesses fall ill from lack of clients; Many centers close for good, by Patricia Callahan, WSJ, B1.
  ...California Heartscan['s] parent company [name??]...filed for bankruptcy-court protection in June....

1. 9/06 Rowe International Inc., Grand Rapids MI...jukeboxes...Chapter 11...$82m in debt, NYT, B4.

2. 9/08 New Bedford Capacitor Inc. f/k/a Aerovox Inc...Chapter 11, WSJ, B10.

1. Twinlab Corp., WSJ, B6.
   ...of Hauppauge NY....[91.5-116.5= $25m debt]..\..Chapter 11...in Manhattan....
   [At last! - after multiple conditional announcements.]

1. The Museum Co...Chapter 11, WSJ, B4.
2. San Francisco Music Box Co...Chapter 11, WSJ, B4.
3. SFMB Acquisition Corp...Chapter 11, WSJ, B4.