From Detroit Free Press

LONDON — Southfield, Mich.-based Federal-Mogul Corp.’s reorganization plan can be rejected by the pension trustees of its British unit, a London court ruled Tuesday.

Trustees of the British unit, Turner & Newall Ltd., had asked the High Court for permission to vote against the restructuring because it may result in thousands of its 40,000 members losing most of their savings. Creditors in Federal-Mogul have until Nov. 17 to vote on the plan.

The trustees “have reached a decision not to support the plan, and that is a position which they are, in my judgment, entitled to take,” Justice Nicholas Patten wrote.

Federal-Mogul, whose largest creditor is billionaire financier Carl Icahn, sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2001 because of asbestos liabilities and declining revenue. A hearing to approve the plan at U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., is set for Dec. 9.

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