Metaldyne Bankruptcy – A Dismal Picture for Suppliers

A bleak picture emerges for bankruptcy creditors in this bankruptcy of a top 50 Tier 1 automotive supplier.  Metaldyne Corporation and 30 subsidiaries (collectively referred to as “Metaldyne”) entered bankruptcy with between $60 million and $65 million in outstanding trade payables. A total of $36 million is due to suppliers on the 50 largest unsecured list. That means that smaller suppliers are going to take almost half of the potential loss.

Metaldyne Bankruptcy – Largest Unsecured Bankruptcy Creditors

Metaldyne requested and was granted authority to file a consolidated list of the 50 largest unsecured creditors of the Metaydyne Corporation and its 30 affiliated Debtors (the “Top Unsecured Creditor List”) in lieu of a separate list for each of the Debtors. The amounts owed to each of the unsecured suppliers is listed as trade debt. We are seeing several very familiar automotive parts supplier names on this list. We are also seeing some of the listed debt to automotive parts suppliers as “disputed.” This is probably an indication of a claim of set off.

Metaldyne Bankruptcy – 31 Debtors and Petitions

Metaldyne Corporation and 30 affiliated entities (”Debtors”) filed a petitions in Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York for relief under chapter 11 of title 11 of the United States Code. Contemporaneously with the filing of their petitions, the Debtors filed a motion requesting that the Court consolidate their chapter 11 cases for administrative purposes only under the Metaldyne Corporation case number 09-13412. The following are the names, case numbers and copies (as available ) of the bankruptcy petitions.

Visteon Bankruptcy – Largest Unsecured Bankruptcy Creditors

Visteon Corp. has filed a consolidated list of the 30 largest unsecured creditors of the Visteon Corp. and affiliated Debtors (the “Top Unsercured Creditor List”) in lieu of a separate list for each of the Debtors. The amounts owed to each of the unsecured suppliers is listed as trade debt. Visteon’s list is heavily populated with providers of electronic components and plastic compounds.

Visteon Bankruptcy – First Day Motions

Visteon Corp. has filed 13 first day motions and the Affidavit of Willaim G. Quigley, III, Chief Financial Officer in Support. The motions include one critical vendor motion to authorize payment of certain pre-petition claims of suppliers.  (Item 4 Below) The first day motions are:

Visteon Bankruptcy – Debtors and Petitions

Visteon Corporation and 30 affiliated entities (”Debtors”) filed a petitions in Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware for relief under chapter 11 of title 11 of the United States Code.  Contemporaneously with the filing of their petitions, the Debtors filed a motion requesting that the Court consolidate their chapter 11 cases for administrative purposes only under the Visteon Corporation case number 09-11786. The following are the names, case numbers and copies (as available ) of the bankruptcy petitions.

Chrysler LLC Bankruptcy – Supplier $1,000,000 Cure Cost Club

Chrysler LLC has filed 4 (the original and 1 amendment and 2 supplemental) lists of Assumed Designated Supplier Contracts and Cure Costs.  Undoubtedly, there are changes that will be made.  The lists to date have already undergone substantial objection and in many instances Chrysler and the Supplier are on different planets in terms of Cure Cost amounts.

For any Tier 2 Supplier, however, it is still important to determine if its Tier 1 customer is on the list.  There is at least one big surprise omission from the assumed contract list.

Chrysler LLC Bankruptcy – Supplier Contract Cure Costs Horrors

A scanning of the “Cure Costs” objections shows a brewing mess that might hamper (depending on how the various objections are handled by the judge) the planned speedy sale to new Chrysler.  Whether the extent of the problems raises a red flag for Fiat has yet to be seen.  For any Merger and Acquisition lawyer these problems certainly would yield sleepless nights.

The Primary Objection – Cure Cost Amounts

The objection common to the vast majority of filings is that the cure amount is incorrect. This was to be expected. What was not expected and what is somewhat alarming is the magnitude of several of the alleged Chrysler understatements of Cure Costs.

How Many Lawyers Can Fit in a Chrysler … Bankruptcy?

In manufacturing and particularly in the automotive sector, lean means eliminating waste; single-piece flow, 5s activities, value stream mapping …. . All that effort to save what might be less than 1 penny per piece attributable to waste. So what does lean manufacturing have to do with the bankruptcy of Chrysler … absolutely nothing and absolutely everything. It just depends on how you define the end of the manufacturing process.

So if you define the process of manufacture to end with the receipt of indefeasible, final payment for goods produced, the question is, in a world economy with international competition, “How Many Lawyers Can Fit in a Chrysler Bankruptcy”