The trustee of the distribution trust for Metaldyne Corporation n/k/a Oldco M Corporation (Bankruptcy Court Southern District of New York) has sent out over 500 demand letters for recovery of bankruptcy preferences. With the statute of limitations for bringing of preference actions expiring on May 27, 2011, the negotiation stage of the claim resolution process will be intensifying. The trustee, Executive Sounding Board Associates Inc. (the “Trustee”) has reported that, as of mid January, the Trustee had collected over $391,000 in preference recoveries and reduced the unsecured creditor class by over $1.38 million. Duane Morris LLP (New York, New York) has been retained to prosecute avoidance actions. Larry J. Kotler is lead attorney for Duane Morris in the bankruptcy preference recovery campaign. Pryor Cashman, LLP has been retained to prosecute avoidance actions as to which Duane Morris has a conflict.
Which Automotive Supplier will be Next
Metaldyne will be either the fifth, sixth or seventh automotive parts supplier in 2011 to bring bankruptcy preference actions. Already, Checker Motors Corporation, Contech U.S., LLC, Fluid Routing Solutions, Inc. n/k/a Carolina Fluid Handling Intermediate Holding Corp., and Noble International, Ltd. have started bankruptcy preference recoveries. Two other automotive parts suppliers, Mark IV Industries, Inc. (which which has until April 30, 2011) and Hayes Lemmerz International, Inc. (which which has until May 11, 2011), may still jump ahead of Metaldyne.
A Brief Background on the Metaldyne Bankruptcy
Prior to its bankruptcy filing, Metaldyne was a manufacturer of powertrain components, including steel powder metal connecting rods and engine bearing caps, aluminum castings (including valve bodies, clutch modules, balance shaft modules, front cover assemblies, differential cases and crankshaft dampers) and tubular fabricated products; engineered chassis applications, including wheel-ends, knuckles and minicorner assemblies. Its primary customers were Ford Motor Company, Chrysler LLC and its successor, Chrysler Group LLC, and General Motors Corporation and its successor, General Motors Company.
The 363 sale of Metaldyne’s chassis and powertrain operations to MD Investors closed on October 16, 2009.
The high end of the estimate of allowed general Unsecured Claims, at one point, was $307,586,000 and the high end of the distributions to general unsecureds was predicted to be 2.1 percent.
Related Materials on the Metaldyne Bankruptcy
Previous notes on the Metaldyne Bankruptcy include the following: