Message-ID: <3339290.1075859544722.JavaMail.evans@thyme> Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 01:44:00 -0800 (PST) From: lisa.mellencamp@enron.com To: elizabeth.sager@enron.com, mark.taylor@enron.com, jeffrey.hodge@enron.com Subject: Fulbright Daily Bankruptcy News Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ANSI_X3.4-1968 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-From: Lisa Mellencamp X-To: Elizabeth Sager, Mark Taylor, Jeffrey T Hodge X-cc: X-bcc: X-Folder: \Elizabeth_Sager_Dec2000\Notes Folders\Notes inbox X-Origin: Sager-E X-FileName: esager.nsf see bankruptcy reform update Lisa J. Mellencamp Enron North America Corp. 1400 Smith St. Houston, TX 77002 Tel: (713) 853-7986 Fax: (713) 646-3393 E-mail: Lisa.Mellencamp@enron.com ----- Forwarded by Lisa Mellencamp/HOU/ECT on 12/13/2000 09:47 AM ----- =09"William Rochelle" =0912/13/2000 09:08 AM =09=09=20 =09=09 To: undisclosed-recipients:; =09=09 cc:=20 =09=09 Subject: Fulbright Daily Bankruptcy News FULBRIGHT & JAWORSKI L.L.P. DAILY BANKRUPTCY NEWS From: Wm. J. Rochelle, III Fulbright - New York Wednesday, December 13, 2000 Filings: Flashcom Inc., a high speed internet reseller, filed chapter 11 on Friday = in=20 Santa Ana, Calif., and laid off one third of its workers. Golden West Tacos, Inc., the franchisee of 49 Taco Bell restaurants, filed= =20 chapter 11 last month in San Diego. Updates: Unicapital Corp., the Miami based aircraft and equipment lessor that filed= =20 on Monday in New York, classifies as *significant* chapter 11 case. The=20 company has almost $650 million in two bank facilities and closed two=20 securitizations in the last year for another $650 million. See F&J Daily= =20 Bankr. News of Dec. 12. Lernout & Hauspie has decided to appeal last week=02=07s decision from the= =20 Belgian court which denied the company=02=07s petition for protection from= =20 creditors on the ground that the *measures for restructuring were totally= =20 unsatisfactory.* To complicate matters, the Belgian court has granted a=20 shareholders=02=07 request that prevents L&H from selling or pledging asset= s. The=20 company also is in chapter 11 in Delaware, but the U.S. court does not have= =20 power to prevent a European creditor from filing a lawsuit in Europe if the= =20 creditor has no presence in the U.S. Also, L&H may be faced with conflicti= ng=20 court orders: the Belgian court precludes pledging assets although the U.S.= =20 court might authorize secured borrowing. See F&J Daily Bankr. News of May = 30=20 and Oct. 6 & 8 of =02=0897 and Oct. 27, Nov. 28 & 30 and Dec. 1, 4 & 8 of = =02=0800. Scour Inc. a/k/a scour.com, whose web site allowed users to exchange video= =20 and audio files, filed chapter 11 in October and auctioned its assets=20 yesterday for $5.5 million cash and $3.5 million in stock of the winning=20 bidder CenterSpan Communications Corp. Scour has only $4 million in debt b= ut=20 is facing $250 billion (no typo) in copyright infringement claims. The bidd= er=20 agreed not to use the assets in a manner that could bring more litigation. = =20 See F&J Daily Bankr. News of Oct. 13 and Nov. 2 & 20. Downgrades: W.R. Grace & Co. is the latest asbestos defendant to lose investment grade= =20 status. Yesterday S&P lowered the corporate peg to BB+. Grace=02=07s stoc= k=20 plunged 20% yesterday and is down 85% in the last year. A $250 million ban= k=20 credit matures in May and a second bank line is tapped out. Stay tuned! S= ee=20 F&J Daily Bankr. News of Oct. 9. MC Shipping Inc., a 21 vessel ship owner, tripled in size recently and now= =20 has been downgraded three time in the last eighteen months by S&P, which=20 yesterday dropped the long term rating by another notch to a dangerous CCC.= =20 The corporate peg remains at B-. The company is tendering for bonds at 54%= =20 of face. See F&J Daily Bankr. News of June 10 of =02=0899 and April 7 of = =02=0800. S&P downgraded Dade Behring Inc. eighteen months ago and took another swip= e=20 at the company yesterday, lowering the corporate and sub ratings by a notch= =20 to B and a troubling CCC+. The maker of medical diagnostic equipment and= =20 supplies has $1.5 billion in rated debt. S&P=02=07s new ratings are one no= tch=20 below the downgrade that Moody=02=07s handed out in October. See F&J Daily= Bankr.=20 News of June 29 of =02=0899 and Oct. 24 of =02=0800. Bankruptcy reform update: In an editorial today, The New York Times said that the bankruptcy reform= =20 bill is *distorted* and a *handout to the credit card industry.* The=20 Hartford Courant today urged the President to veto the bill. Other=20 newspapers have advocated Presidential approval of the bill. Latin America news: For the second time in a week, the Peruvian government has taken over a=20 bank. An insurance company also was taken over, and a Peruvian airline=20 suspended domestic service. Asia news: Asian markets were pleased that the U.S. may now know who its president is= . =20 However, the Japanese yen dropped to a 16 month low against the dollar, to= =20 the pleasure of Japanese exporters. Consumer prices in Tokyo have fallen= =20 1.2% from one year ago, reflecting how Japan=02=07s problem is deflation, n= ot=20 inflation. Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. makes NO WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS OF ANY= =20 SORT with respect to this report, including any warranties or representatio= ns=20 as to the accuracy or completeness of any of the information, facts, or=20 opinions contained herein. By having requested receipt of these reports, t= he=20 recipient acknowledges that the receipt of these reports does not constitut= e=20 the receipt of legal advice and does not, by itself, establish an=20 attorney-client relationship. These reports are provided as a courtesy=20 solely for the recipient=02=07s information and may not be reproduced or=20 distributed to any third parties without Fulbright=02=07s express written= =20 authorization. - bknews.wpd