Quigley disclosure statement application approved, but plan voting issues must be resolved

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, Oct. 23 - Quigley Co., Inc.'s application to approve the disclosure statement for its plan of reorganization was approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, but the company was ordered to schedule a conference to resolve any remaining plan voting, solicitation or scheduling issues before proposing a formal statement approval order.

In the ruling filed Tuesday, judge Stuart M. Bernstein said that settling and non-settling asbestos personal injury claims can be classified as one claim class under the company's plan of reorganization but the settlement between some of the personal injury claimants and Quigley parent Pfizer Inc. raises issues that must be resolved.

However, Bernstein said Quigley's application to approve the disclosure statement was granted because the statement contains "adequate information, and does not describe a plan that is unconfirmable as a matter of law."

On Oct. 2, Bernstein said all plan issues related to matters of law would be tried at the confirmation hearing.

As previously reported, Quigley's plan has been surrounded by controversy as both the ad hoc committee of tort victims and the office of the U.S. Trustee say that the plan is unconfirmable due to fraudulent devices employed by Pfizer and Quigley such as voter manipulation.

According to Tuesday's ruling, although the Pfizer settlements raise several confirmation issues, "the classification scheme and treatment of the members of the class" satisfy bankruptcy code requirements.

Quigley, a unit of Pfizer Inc., filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 3, 2004. Its Chapter 11 case number is 04-15739.

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