Asarco majority bondholders want next exclusivity extension to be the last

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, Feb. 8 - Asarco LLC's majority bondholders have asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas to only grant the company's request for a ninth extension to its exclusive plan-filing and vote solicitation periods if the order includes the condition that this will be the final extension, according to a Thursday court filing.

Majority bondholders Harbinger Capital Partners Master Fund I, Ltd., Harbinger Capital Partners Special Situations Fund, LP and Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. said in their objection that the company is using the same reason for requesting its ninth exclusivity extension as it did for its sixth extension.

Specifically, the bondholders said that in its latest exclusivity extension motion, the company said it needs more time to run "an orderly plan process" and to select a plan sponsor.

"But almost ten months ago, the debtors obtained a sixth extension by proposing a similar process to select a plan sponsor and file a plan by November 30, 2007," the bondholders said in the filing.

Although the company solicited a plan sponsor and received nine proposals, including one submitted by the majority bondholders, the bondholders said the company "unjustifiably abandoned" the solicitation process it started in 2007 "and refused to evaluate proposals or select a plan sponsor on the timeline they themselves proposed."

The bondholders said the company now plans to start over.

"Once again, they intend to market Asarco to potential plan sponsors. Once again, they seek to solicit plan sponsorship proposals. And, once again, they claim that an extension of exclusivity is necessary to enable them to complete the marketing process."

If the company does not file a plan by April 11, which is the deadline set under its new timeline, the bondholders said it will file its own plan soon after.

Asarco, a Tucson, Ariz., mining company, filed for bankruptcy on Aug. 9, 2005. Its Chapter 11 case number is 05-21207.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.