Federal-Mogul Seeks Citigroup Loan OK: $1.93 Billion May Keep Parts Maker Afloat
Federal-Mogul Corp. is asking a U.S. bankruptcy judge for permission to borrow as much as $1.93 billion from Citigroup Inc. to help fund its reorganization.
Intermet Files for Chapter 11 Reorganization
Intermet Corp. announced this week that it has filed for voluntary Chapter 11 reorganization with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of Michigan. Intermet’s European operations are not included in the Chapter 11 filing. Intermet said it filed for Chapter 11 in response to the unprecedented rise in raw-material costs, especially for scrap steel, in North America and Europe.
Oxford to Skip Bond Payment, Cut Workers
Auto supplier Oxford Automotive Inc., beset by heavy debt, struggling North American plants and rising steel prices, is six months behind on reporting its finances to the SEC. The company plans to lay off nearly 200 people in Michigan and has been unsuccessfully shopping itself around for sale for several months, say automaker officials and supplier experts familiar with the company.
Venture Survival More at Risk
The protracted bankruptcy of auto supplier Venture Corp. continues, and the longer it drags on the less likely the plastics firm will survive, say automaker officials, supplier consultants and lawyers handling the case. Based in Fraser, Mich., Venture is one of the world’s largest auto-plastics suppliers and at its peak employed about 13,000 worldwide, including thousands in Michigan.
AMN Celebrates Five Years
Five years. One thousand, eight hundred and twenty-five days. In aftermarket years, that’s no more than the blink of an eye. Still, for an industry that has kept America rolling for nearly a century, a lot has changed in the last five years. Five years ago today, on Sept. 13, 1999, aftermarketNews.com (AMN) was launched. Since then, AMN has published more than 19,000 unique, industry-specific news articles, editorials, interviews and features.
Liquidity Crunch Threatens Oxford
Oxford Automotive Inc. could face its second bankruptcy filing in three years if it’s not able to sell some of its assets or secure new funding in the coming months. Faced with the prospect that Oxford will default on a $16.8 million interest payment on Oct. 15 and that the Troy, Mich.-based company is in the midst of a liquidity crunch despite landing a $1.3 billion auto parts contract with Mercedes-Benz, bondholders have hired Rothschild LLC and AlixPartners LLC as financial advisers and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP as its legal counsel to represent them in debt restructuring talks, sources confirmed.
Ewing to Buy Key Auto Stakes from Carlyle Group
As part of the unwinding of their relationship, Ewing Management Group has agreed to buy Carlyle Group’s stake in Key Automotive Group, as well as a stake held by Lightyear Capital. Key Automotive was formed by putting Key Plastics LLC, acquired for about $175 million in 2001, under the same roof with Breed Technologies, Inc., which Ewing had bought out of bankruptcy in 2001 for a reported $315 million. Breed was later renamed Key Safety Systems, Inc. and moved its headquarters to Michigan, where Key Plastics is based.
USWA Files Complaint Against Continental Tire North America
The United Steelworkers of America (USWA) filed a formal complaint July 19 with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Continental Tire North America (CTNA) claiming its plan to end production at its Mayfield, Ky., plant “is illegal and should be halted by the federal government.”
Lund International Acquires California Aftermarket Accessories Business
Lund International has completed the purchase of certain assets of Trenz, a wholly owned subsidiary of PAC Holding Co., located in Bakersfield, Calif. On May 20, Lund International entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement offering to purchase substantially all of Trenz’s assets out of the PAC Holding Co. Chapter 11 Bankruptcy case filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. On June 22, the Bankruptcy Court authorized the sale of Trenz’s assets to the company.
Venture Owner Winget Resigns from Board
Macomb County businessman Larry Winget, cofounder and majority owner of bankrupt auto supplier Venture Corp., has resigned from the board amid a lawsuit that alleges he and his family siphoned millions of dollars from the company. Winget’s son and son-in-law, executives with the struggling auto-plastics firm, have been placed on paid leaves of absence.