W.R. Grace hopeful for fall resolution of appeals, late 2013 emergence

By Jim Witters

Wilmington, Del., Aug. 1 - W.R. Grace & Co. remains hopeful that rulings from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit will be issued "soon after Labor Day," opening the way for the company's Chapter 11 plan to become effective during the fourth quarter of the year, an attorney said during an Aug. 1 telephonic status conference in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

Judge Kevin J. Carey called the status conference as a way to better acquaint himself with the 12-year-old case he inherited when judge Judith K. Fitzgerald retired on May 31.

Adam Paul, representing W.R. Grace, said oral arguments were made on June 17 in the four open appeals before the Third Circuit.

A group of bank lenders, the Canadian government, the state of Montana and Anderson (S.C.) Memorial Hospital continue to press their appeals of the January 2011 confirmation of the W.R. Grace plan of reorganization.

Garlock Sealing Technologies' appeal was rejected by the appeals court because it determined Garlock did not hold legal standing.

The plan confirmation was upheld in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in a June 2012 ruling.

The company is preparing all the documents associated with going effective with the plan, so that if the appeals court affirms all aspects of the plan, W.R. Grace can emerge from bankruptcy before the end of the year, Paul said.

An attorney representing Anderson Memorial Hospital told judge Carey that the asbestos damage claim filed by his client will be tried in the bankruptcy court once the confirmation appeals are exhausted.

The damages trial could consume "several weeks," he said.

W.R. Grace, a Columbia, Md.-based specialty chemicals company, filed for bankruptcy on April 2, 2001. Its Chapter 11 case number is 01-01139.

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