InterviewDecision on Chemtura equity committee imminent - alliance

18 December 2009 20:28  [Source: ICIS news]

NEW YORK (ICIS news)--A decision on whether to form an official equity committee for bankrupt US specialty chemicals firm Chemtura will likely come before Christmas, the cofounder of the Chemtura Stock Alliance said on Friday.

“The US Trustee’s office sent out questionnaires to shareholders asking them how many shares they own and to see if they’d be willing to serve on the equity committee. The deadline to send them back was today at noon,” said Jon Jacks, founding member of the Chemtura Stock Alliance, in an interview with ICIS.

“A decision usually comes two-to-three days afterwards,” he added.

The US Trustee’s office helps oversee the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process and would select the people on the official equity committee if it decided to allow for its formation.

The Chemtura Stock Alliance, representing shareholders controlling 33m shares, or 13.6%, of the 243m outstanding common shares, is seeking the formation of an official equity committee to represent the interests of shareholders.

In a typical bankruptcy, common shareholders are wiped out, while debt holders tend to recover value. However, in rare cases, there is residual value in the stock.

Chemtura filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 18 March and aims to emerge from the process in the summer of 2010.

Shares of Chemtura were down three cents, or 2.8%, to $1.05/share in late Friday afternoon trading. However, the stock is up sharply this month from a closing low of $0.57 on 1 December.

For more on Chemtura visit ICIS company intelligence
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By: Joseph Chang
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