Asarco receives $82.75 million judgment payment from Sesa Sterlite

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, Oct. 21 – Asarco LLC received $82.75 million from purchase agreement party Sesa Sterlite Ltd. in connection with a judgment from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas and a related claim settlement, according to a Sesa news release.

Sesa Sterlite said it received the necessary approval from the Reserve Bank of India to make the payment to Asarco.

As a result of the payment, all pending appeals have been withdrawn, all enforcement actions have been terminated by Asarco and a turnover order has been vacated by the bankruptcy court.

Also, Sesa Sterlite said the settlement resolves any issues related to the payment of dividends to eligible ADR holders.

As previously reported, Sesa Sterlite’s bid for a stay of the judgment ordering it to turn over to Asarco $82.75 million in connection with a breach of purchase agreement was denied by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in August.

The bankruptcy court awarded Asarco the damages in 2012. Sesa Sterlite refused to pay the judgment for more than two years, an Aug. 20 release said, prompting the turnover order. That order required Sesa Sterlite to turn over cash, assets and property sufficient to satisfy the judgment.

In seeking a stay, Sesa Sterlite argued that the order unfairly restricted its continuing business operations, including prohibiting it from making Aug. 8 dividend payments to the holders of its American Depositary Shares.

According to the August release, the turnover order also affected Sesa Sterlite’s $500 million in 4% convertible senior notes due Oct. 30 in the U.S. debt market.

Asarco, a Tucson, Ariz., mining company, emerged from bankruptcy in December 2009.

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