Newly Merged Chemical Company Reorganizes Chapter Bankruptcy Filing

LyondellBasell, the chemical company that decided to file for Chapter 11 last year, is now looking to emerge from bankruptcy protection.

The company recently settled a dispute with their creditors over the buyout between Lyondell by Basell, a Netherlands based company.

This dispute has been going on for quite some time and was the biggest reason LyondellBasell postponed their bankruptcy emergence.

The company, owned by Len Blavatnick, was formed in 2007 when he bought-out Texas-based Lyondell and fused the two companies.

But as the housing market and car industry hit sharp declines, the company, which is a major producer for products that are used in gasoline, plastics, autos, paints and other materials, aw the need for their own products diminish.

The merger and slow business combined to increase the company’s debt by $12.7 billion.

After the merger, a group of unsecured creditors filed a $22 billion lawsuit against the company and all those involved in the buyout plan.

According to a Reuter’s article, the creditors said that the buyout set the company up to fail with the new debt they accrued. The creditors also disputed the $300 million settlement that LyondellBasell reached in December.

They then asked the bankruptcy court to view all other options and several proposals from companies such as Reliance Industries to buyout Lyondell.

But the company stated that their reorganization plan was the best option for the company to emerge successful.

A spokesman for Lyondell said “We will continue to work with all parties to design a confirmable plan of reorganization that maximizes the value for our creditors while improving the financial stability for the reorganized company.”

But LyondellBasell did readjust their bankruptcy plan in an effort to resolve the creditor dispute. They decided to pay the creditors $450 million once they emerge from bankruptcy protection.

The additional $150 million will be distributed as equity after the company emerges. But the additional settlement will require court approval before reorganization can go forward.

With the extra money included in the settlement the company now has the support of their creditors and senior lenders.

Reuter’s reported that the company’s operations in the U.S were included in the chapter bankruptcy filing along with their European financing arm, but all European operations were left out of the bankruptcy.

LyondellBasell hopes to emerge from bankruptcy court in April.