Report: Bankruptcy judge will not yet rule on fate of miner Asarco after Grupo Mexico wins bid
By APMonday, October 19, 2009
Report: Judge to rule on fate of miner Asarco
SAN FRANCISCO — A bankruptcy judge said Monday he would not immediately give control of copper mining company Asarco LLC to Grupo Mexico SAB despite its winning bid in a court auction, The Wall Street Journal said.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Andrew Hanen said he would consider a broad array of issues before ruling in the case, the Journal said in a report published on its Web site.
Group Mexico had won an August bankruptcy auction to take back the unit, but a union for Asarco employees and the company’s court-appointed management want another bidder, Sterlite Industries Ltd., to have control.
The newspaper quoted Hanen saying he would consider the union’s concerns.
Sterlite had originally offered $2.6 billion to buy Asarco out of bankruptcy court protetion but it lowered the offer amid the recession. Grupo Mexico ultimately won the bid, after it continued to raise its bids higher than Sterlite’s.
Asarco has been the prize in a tug-of-war over control of a company that holds valuable mineral assets. Last year Hanen said Grupo Mexico was guilty of defrauding creditors by diverting copper owned by Asarco in Peru to another of its units. The Mexican company has appealed, the Journal said.
The court has determined that creditors would be paid in full whether or not Grupo Mexico or Sterlite took over Asarco.
