Superior Offshore, equity holders committee object to Schaefer motion for stay of plan pending appeal

By Jennifer Lanning Drey

Portland, Ore., Feb. 6 - Superior Offshore International, Inc. objected to a motion filed by creditors and equity holders Louis E. Schaefer Jr. and Schaefer Holdings, LP for stay pending appeal of the company's plan of liquidation, in a Friday filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Superior Offshore's official committee of equity security holders also objected to the motion in a separate Friday filing.

The company said if the court does grant a stay, the Schaefer parties should be required to post a bond to protect the estate and its creditors from harm incurred as the result of an appeal.

The Schaefer entities filed motions for direct appeal to the Fifth Circuit court and stay pending appeal on Feb. 4.

"The Schaefer parties' request is self-serving, is not in the best interest of the estate and should be summarily denied," Superior Offshore said in the motion.

The company said the Schaefer entities' objections to the plan were already overruled at the confirmation hearing, so there is little chance of success in the appeal.

"All creditors and interest holders, including the Schaefer parties, are harmed by delaying consummation of the plan," Superior Offshore said.

The company's official committee of equity security holders also said the Schaefer entities' arguments have no merit.

The committee believes Superior Offshore's estate has viable claims against the Schaefer parties, which are trying to delay inevitable lawsuits and gain leverage to obtain a release through the appeal.

As previously reported, Superior Offshore's plan of liquidation was approved on Jan. 28.

Superior Offshore, a Houston-based provider of subsea construction and commercial diving services to the crude oil and natural gas exploration and production industries and gathering and transmission industries, filed for bankruptcy on April 24, 2008. Its Chapter 11 case number is 08-32590.

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