Wood-products producer Pope & Talbot filed for bankruptcy protection in Canada as the company cited a record low demand for lumber and the appreciation of the Canadian dollar, the Seattle Times reported today.  The 150-year-old Portland company filed for protection from creditors for U.S. and Canadian subsidiaries under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act of Canada.  The cost of servicing debt and slowing demand for sawdust were cited as reasons its principal operating subsidiary, based in Canada, sought bankruptcy. The company, with about 2,500 employees, said most of its operating assets are in British Columbia. It also has mills in Oregon and South Dakota.

Bear Stearns cut 300 jobs yesterday to reduce costs as the investment bank continued to deal with the summer’s credit turmoil that swept through Wall Street, the Associated Press reported yesterday. Bear Stearns already cut about 600 positions from its mortgage-origination unit as defaults from subprime borrowers began to grow. The layoffs came the same day that the Swiss bank UBS, which is already writing down the value of some assets by $3.4 billion, warned investors that its fourth-quarter results might be hit by a further downturn in the United States housing and mortgage markets.  UBS said that although the fourth quarter had started well, exposure to the U.S. credit market “could lead to further write-downs.”

With the United Auto Workers union on the verge of ratifying a new contract with Chrysler LLC, bargaining now shifts to Ford Motor Co., the U.S. car maker with perhaps the greatest need for labor-cost reductions, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Ford posted a net loss of $12.6 billion in 2006, and its sales are off 13.3 percent in the first nine months of this year amid a broader downturn in the market, driven by the housing slump and rising gasoline prices. After a profit of $468 million in the first half of 2007 — much of that from one-time items such as the sale of Aston Martin — Ford is likely to post a loss in the third quarter. It is unclear how far the UAW would be willing to go to help Ford weather the storm. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger has said that Ford’s contract is likely to follow the pattern set by the agreements hammered out with GM and Chrysler that shifted billions of dollars in retiree health-care obligations off their books to union-run trusts, known as voluntary employees’ beneficiary associations (VEBAs).

Calpine Corp. wants to auction a $140 million unsecured claim against chemical company Solutia Inc. in the hopes of garnering more from the sale than it would recover under Solutia’s reorganization plan, the Associated Press reported yesterday. In papers filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan Monday, the power company said that  claims in Solutia’s chapter 11 case have been trading at levels higher than what unsecured creditors are expected to recover under the company’s plan. Calpine said that it has been contacted by more than a dozen potential buyers interested in purchasing the claim, which stems from a dispute over Solutia’s decision to stop buying power from Calpine three years ago. Solutia’s chapter 11 plan calls for unsecured creditors to recover as much as 83 cents for every dollar they are owed, making Calpine’s claim worth about $116 million.

Citic Securities, a top state-controlled investment bank in China, is planning to invest $1 billion in Bear Stearns and form a joint venture with the firm in Asia, the New York Times reported today. The deal, which also calls for Bear Stearns to invest $1 billion in Citic, which is owned by an arm of the Chinese government, would pool together both firms’ businesses in Asia, with the exception of China. The venture would include some collaboration in China, giving Bear Stearns access to some of Citic’s clients. Citic plans to invest in Bear Stearns through 40-year convertible trust preferred securities that will convert to about 6 percent of Bear Stearns’ outstanding shares. Citic could potentially increase the stake to 9.9 percent.

Bankruptcy Judge Burton R. Lifland postponed a key hearing on Lionel LLC’s exit from bankruptcy, as talks to settle a lengthy trade-secrets battle intensify between the model-train maker and MTH Electric Trains, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The delay comes as MTH, whose trade-secrets lawsuit forced Lionel into bankruptcy nearly three years ago, said the two competitors have made “substantial progress” in reaching a settlement. In court papers filed by MTH bankruptcy lawyers, the amount of MTH’s claim against Lionel in the chapter 11 case “was resolved in early July 2007″ and the only thing holding up a settlement is a spat over the future use of some model-train technology.
See Also:  Bankruptcy Lawyers New York

The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego hopes to raise $25 million in donations to help pay its portion of a $198.1 million settlement reached last month with childhood sexual abuse victims, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported yesterday. If the “Embracing Our Mission” campaign is not successful, Brom said that the diocese has only two other properties that could be sold – its headquarters in Bay Park and St. Francis Seminary in Linda Vista. The diocese’s portion of the settlement is $183 million, with about half coming from religious orders and insurance, according to a financial breakdown accompanying Brom’s letter. The San Bernardino diocese, which used to be part of the San Diego diocese, will pay the remaining $15 million. The San Diego diocese hopes to use $40 million from selling some property, including the former University of San Diego High School in Linda Vista, the former Marian Catholic High School in South Bay and a parcel in Oceanside purchased for a school that was never built.

Sallie Mae raised the stakes in its battle with its would-be buyers late on Friday by requesting an expedited trial in Delaware, the New York Times reported today. The move may put even more pressure on the buying group, which includes J. C. Flowers, JPMorgan Chase and the Bank of America, either to complete the transaction or reach a compromise. The buyers have said that they plan to abandon the deal unless Sallie Mae accepts a lower price. They argue that the original terms are no longer fair because of the downturn in the credit market and the passage of new legislation lowering student subsidies by the government. Sallie Mae sued the buying group a week ago, insisting that their merger contract specifically contemplated the legislation and that changes in the credit environment do not annul the agreement. Sallie Mae is seeking completion of the deal immediately or that the buying group pay a $900 million breakup fee.

Roadhouse Grill, which had sales of $116 million last year, filed for chapter 11 yesterday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in West Palm Beach, Fla., the Associated Press reported yesterday. Willie’s Roadhouse Grill LLC, an investment vehicle controlled by restaurateur John Metz, bought an 85.5 percent stake in the company from Duffy’s Holdings Inc. on Monday, according to court papers. Willie’s Roadhouse has agreed to provide $2 million to fund Roadhouse Grill’s reorganization under chapter 11. Metz, a West Palm Beach businessman who owns a number of Bennigan’s and Denny’s franchises, intends to continue operating 38 of the Roadhouse locations. Roadhouse Grill, founded in 1992, had more than 80 locations in eight states at its peak, but the chain has been losing money for years with more than $51 million in net losses since 2002. In 2006 it lost $10.7 million on revenue of $116 million.

Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey signed off on the latest version of Dura Automotive Systems Inc.’s disclosure statement and plan solicitation procedures on Thursday, giving the auto parts maker until Oct. 11 to distribute copies of its reorganization plan, statement and ballots to voting creditors and allowing creditors until Nov. 5 to object to the plan, Bankruptcy Law360 reported on Friday. Judge Carey also handed down a voting deadline of Nov. 15, the same date by which he said that Dura must respond to any potential objections, and scheduled a confirmation hearing for the plan for Nov. 26. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the company’s unsecured creditors’ committee filed with the court a letter it planned to send to members urging them to vote in favor of Dura’s new plan.