LONGVIEW POWER, LLC. bankruptcy update . .. ...
By Peg Brickley, Wall Street Journal, January 13, 2014
Longview Power LLC has asked for the help of a mediator to address a long-running dispute with contractors that threatens to hobble its bid to exit bankruptcy. Creditors have already started to vote on the power plant's Chapter 11 emergence plan, which proposes to swap more than $1 billion worth of debt for equity.
Longview's lawyers said in court papers that they "cannot overstate the importance of moving towards emergence as quickly as possible" with a balance-sheet cleansing plan that also provides money to fix the troubled plant. Built at a cost of $2 billion, Longview's plant has been unable to operate at full capacity due to significant technical issues.
Those issues are at the heart of the fight Longview has been engaged in with its contractors: an affiliate of Norwegian construction company
The company's attorneys said in a letter to the judge on Sunday that Longview is prepared to continue litigation but would like a mediator to facilitate "productive settlement negotiations."
The contractor fights are also the subject of an arbitration that began before Longview's bankruptcy filing.
With a Feb. 10 hearing on the company's restructuring plan looming, Longview would prefer to have peace with one or more of the contractors, the letter said.
Longview's financing calls for the company to get out of Chapter 11 in March. The company filed for Chapter 11 protection Aug. 30, after construction delays and technical trouble rendered it unable to cover its debts.
(Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review covers news about distressed companies and those under bankruptcy protection. Go to http://dbr.dowjones.com)