Ormet wins 120-day exclusivity extension to retrench after failed sale

By Jim Witters

Wilmington, Del., Oct. 16 - Ormet Corp. receive approval for a four-month extension of its exclusive periods for filing a Chapter 11 plan and for seeking plan acceptances, according to an Oct. 16 filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

The company originally requested the additional time because of delays in receiving a ruling from the Ohio Public Utilities Commission on a request to allow the proposed buyer of Ormet's Hannibal, Ohio, plant to buy electricity.

The PUCO denied the company's request for an energy transition plan that would allow it to operate while constructing an onsite natural gas-based power generation facility.

Proposed asset buyer Smelter Acquisition LLC will not waive asset purchase agreement conditions not met as a result of the PUCO ruling, leaving Ormet unable to close the sale or emerge from bankruptcy.

The $130 million sale of substantially all of Ormet's assets to Smelter Acquisition was approved by the bankruptcy court in June.

The company shuttered the Hannibal plant after the PUCO ruling.

Ormet said a restart of the Hannibal smelter in the future would be contingent upon obtaining a long-term economical power supply and an improving aluminum pricing environment.

Under the order issued Oct. 16 by Judge Mary F. Walrath, Ormet's exclusive period for filing a Chapter 11 plan is extended through Feb. 20 from Oct. 23.

The exclusive period for soliciting votes is extended through April 22 from Dec. 23.

Ormet, a Hannibal, Ohio-based producer of aluminum, filed for bankruptcy on Feb. 26, 2013 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The Chapter 11 case number is 13-10334.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.