Mesaba requests court OK to sell $145 million Northwest claim

By Jennifer Lanning Drey

Portland, Ore., Jan. 18 - Mesaba Aviation, Inc. requested court approval to sell its $145 million claim against Northwest Airlines Corp., regardless of whether the company consummates a stock purchase and reorganization transaction with Northwest, according to a Thursday filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota.

According to the motion, the sale is supported by Mesaba's parent company, MAIR Holdings, and its official committee of unsecured creditors, who both want the claim to be sold quickly to avoid any unnecessary risk associated with the market for the claim.

Claims against Northwest, which filed its own plan of reorganization on Jan. 12, are trading at about 95% of their face value, according to the motion.

"Given the current uncertainty in Northwest's operations and plan of reorganization, [Mesaba] believes that the market for claims of Northwest may fluctuate as additional events occur or fail to occur," the company said in the motion.

The parties said they have agreed on a form of bid procedures under which the claim would be auctioned and sold to the highest bidder.

Mesaba will file additional details of the bid procedures as soon as possible, according to the filing.

The company wants to complete the auction by Jan. 29, and a hearing on the sale has been scheduled for Jan. 30.

Mesaba, an Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest Airlines affiliate, filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 13, 2005. Its Chapter 11 case number is 05-39258.

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