The US Federal Reserve has now spent $7tn bailing out Wall Street. But it couldn’t save the 102-year old Hertz rental company from filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for its US business on Friday night. Sadly, Hertz won’t be the only casualty. Its collapse instead marks the moment when the problems created by two […]
Chemicals and the Economy
LyondellBasell to exit Chapter 11
LyondellBasell (LBI) is to exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy on 30 April, 15 months after entering it in January 2009. The past 15 months have been an expensive lesson for those debt-holders who financed Basell’s purchase of Lyondell in July 2007, at the peak of the market. LBI entered Chapter 11 with $24bn of debt. […]
Reliance offers c$10bn for LyondellBasell (Update 1)
LyondellBasell (LBI) yesterday confirmed the rumoured takeover bid from Reliance. In a statement posted on its website, it says it has “received a preliminary non-binding offer from Reliance Industries Limited to acquire for cash a controlling interest in the company contemporaneously with the company’s emergence from Chapter 11 reorganization“. It noted “this offer is in […]
Chrysler bankruptcy to last years, not months
More details are now emerging of the US government’s plans for Chrysler. Initially President Obama said he hoped the bankruptcy process would only last 60 days. But according to Bloomberg, the administration now accepts that this period will just cover the “sale of Chrysler’s best assets” to Fiat. Suppliers, including those in the chemical industry, […]
GM bankruptcy threatens auto supply chain
It seems highly likely that GM, the largest US car manufacturer, will enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the next few weeks. Chrysler, the 4th largest US company, may well follow them. Even if it avoids bankruptcy, GM’s own restructuring plan has the potential to be equally traumatic. It is based on a forecast US […]
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