Business Bankruptcy News Bulletin Summary for Week of June 14

The items below are excerpted from the Business Bankruptcy News Bulletin. A full issue contains information on dozens of troubled companies, as well as informational and analysis highlights. Please visit the insideARM bookstore for information on subscribing to the Bulletin.

Assessing Your Bankruptcy Claim

Once a debtor has filed for bankruptcy protection, creditors start the unpredictable task of assessing their claims and finding the best way to recover them. Typically, large corporations have the resources to analyze and administer claims, but small and medium-sized firms are much less likely to be able to do a thorough valuation of creditors’ claims. However, electronic resources can help, as information about most corporate bankruptcies is accessible on the Internet. As a result, unlike in the dinosaur days before the Internet, all parties have equal access to public information about a bankruptcy filing. Further, the claims trading marketplace is generally transparent and fair. Still, doing due diligence can be an arduous task as it requires dealing with reams of court documents, financial statements and lawyers’ statements.  You can also obtain the latest information on the status of events taking place at a bankrupt company by calling that court’s free Voice Case Information System phone number.  To obtain the VCIS number of any U.S. Bankruptcy Court call the publisher of this publication at 1-800-407-9044.

BANKRUPT COMPANIES

Albacore Holdings LLC, Phoenix, Az., filed Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona. The firm listed assets and liabilities of between $10 million and $50 million each. The filing was under case number 10-17754. For more information contact the court at 888-549-5336.

Badger Drilling Co. LLC, Dallas, Tx., filed Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas. The firm listed assets of between $100,000 and $1 million and liabilities of between $10 million and $50 million. The filing was under case number 10-34046. For more information contact the court at 800-886-9008.

Credit Cards Direct Inc., Port Charlotte, Fl., filed Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida. The firm listed assets of less than $100,000 and liabilities of between $1 million and $10 million. The filing was under case number 10-13470. For more information contact the court at 866-879-1286.

EnPro Industries Inc., a Charlotte, N.C. manufacturer of sealing products, polymer bearings and other products, put its Garlock Sealing Technologies LLC unit into bankruptcy protection, in a move to protect itself from what it called unjustified asbestos liability claims. Garlock has already processed many claims, having paid out more than $1.4 billion in settlements and judgments, along with another $400 million in other costs. The filing, made in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of North Carolina, calls for setting up a trust to handle current and future claims. In its filing Garlock listed assets of between $100 million and $1 billion and liabilities of between $100 million and $500 million. For more information contact the court at 704-350-7505.  

Millennium Multiple Employer Welfare Benefit Plan, Richardson, Tx., filed Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. The firm listed assets and liabilities of between $50 million and $100 million each. The filing was under case number 10-13528. For more information contact the court at 866-222-8029, then enter 13.

Reserve Golf Club in South Carolina won approval for its reorganization plan from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Charleston. The plan calls for the privately-held firm to be acquired by McConnell Golf, an acquisition that has already been carried out.

Tribune Co., Chicago, Il., received the okay from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to pass on its bankruptcy reorganization plan to its creditors for a vote. The plan would distribute about $6 billion to creditors, out of some $12 billion in debt that it carried with it when it entered bankruptcy proceedings a year and a half ago.