No signs of balance sheet cheating at Austria's Hypo-FMA

VIENNA, March 3 Tue Mar 3, 2015 4:03am EST

VIENNA, March 3 (Reuters) - Austrian bank supervisors have no indication that defunct lender Hypo Alpe Adria improperly valued assets on its balance sheet, the co-head of the Financial Market Authority (FMA) said.

"We have no indications at the moment that the balance sheet was falsified. If we did we would investigate this accordingly," FMA co-head Klaus Kumpfmueller told reporters after an outside audit of the Heta Asset Resolution "bad bank" winding down Hypo assets discovered its balance sheet was overvalued by as much as 8.7 billion euros ($9.73 billion).

Kumpfmueller said the FMA was surprised at the extent of the adjustments but attributed it to the accounting switch triggered by reclassification of the business as no longer a going concern, a significantly worse outlook for economies in the Balkans, and the surge in the Swiss franc that delivered a hit worth hundreds of millions of euros. ($1 = 0.8943 euros) (Reporting by Michael Shields and Angelika Gruber, Editing by Shadia Nasralla)

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BRIEF-Martinsa Fadesa agrees to request its liquidation

Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.

NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

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Arion Bank plans three-year bond

By Helene Durand

Tue Mar 3, 2015 3:15am EST

LONDON, March 3 (IFR) - Arion Bank has opened books on a new three-year senior unsecured bond issue according to a lead.

The Icelandic bank is marketing the 300m transaction to investors at guidance of 325bp area over mid-swaps.

Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and Nomura are lead managers on the BB+ rated which will be priced later today. (Reporting by Helene Durand; editing by Alex Chambers)

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Puerto Rico's Prepa to miss restructuring deadline - official

NEW YORK Fri Feb 27, 2015 5:11pm EST

NEW YORK Feb 27 (Reuters) - Puerto rico's debt-laden power authority, Prepa, said on Friday that it will hold off on presenting a restructuring plan to creditors as it continues to negotiate an extension of forbearance agreements with bondholders and lenders.

The current agreement, which expires on March 31, had called for a deadline of this Monday for Prepa to unveil a proposal to restructure about $9 billion in debt. But it will miss that deadline, Lisa Donahue, Prepa's chief restructuring officer, said in a statement. (Reporting by Megan Davies and Nick Brown; Editing by Bernard Orr)

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UPDATE 1-Puerto Rico's Prepa to miss restructuring deadline - official

Fri Feb 27, 2015 5:43pm EST

(Adds details from Donahue's statement)

NEW YORK Feb 27 (Reuters) - Puerto Rico's debt-laden power authority, Prepa, said on Friday that it will hold off on presenting a restructuring plan as it tries to secure an extension of an agreement from creditors not to foreclose on its $9 billion in debt.

The current agreement, which expires on March 31, had called for a deadline of this Monday for Prepa to unveil a proposal to restructure about $9 billion in debt. But it will miss that deadline, Lisa Donahue, Prepa's chief restructuring officer, said in a statement.

"We have made significant progress" to negotiate an extension of the forbearance agreement, "but there is more work to do and as a result, we have not yet finalized a plan to present to the forbearing creditors."

Donahue said she told creditors Prepa "would not satisfy this milestone," and that creditors do not plan to call a default as a result of the delay.

Reuters reported on Thursday that Prepa would likely miss the deadline as negotiators weigh dropping energy prices and legislative uncertainty on the island. (Reporting by Megan Davies and Nick Brown; Editing by Bernard Orr and Christian Plumb)

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BRIEF-Uboat Line files for liquidation bankruptcy

Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.

NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

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UPDATE 1-Puerto Rico's Prepa to miss restructuring deadline - official

Fri Feb 27, 2015 5:43pm EST

(Adds details from Donahue's statement)

NEW YORK Feb 27 (Reuters) - Puerto Rico's debt-laden power authority, Prepa, said on Friday that it will hold off on presenting a restructuring plan as it tries to secure an extension of an agreement from creditors not to foreclose on its $9 billion in debt.

The current agreement, which expires on March 31, had called for a deadline of this Monday for Prepa to unveil a proposal to restructure about $9 billion in debt. But it will miss that deadline, Lisa Donahue, Prepa's chief restructuring officer, said in a statement.

"We have made significant progress" to negotiate an extension of the forbearance agreement, "but there is more work to do and as a result, we have not yet finalized a plan to present to the forbearing creditors."

Donahue said she told creditors Prepa "would not satisfy this milestone," and that creditors do not plan to call a default as a result of the delay.

Reuters reported on Thursday that Prepa would likely miss the deadline as negotiators weigh dropping energy prices and legislative uncertainty on the island. (Reporting by Megan Davies and Nick Brown; Editing by Bernard Orr and Christian Plumb)

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UPDATE 1-Billionaire Rennert, firm must pay $118 mln for looting company -jury

Fri Feb 27, 2015 4:33pm EST

(Adds comment from Renco in sixth paragraph, additional byline)

By Joseph Ax and Nate Raymond

NEW YORK Feb 27 (Reuters) - Billionaire Ira Rennert and his investment firm were ordered on Friday to pay $118.2 million after being found liable for looting a magnesium company to build one of the most expensive mansions in America.

A Manhattan federal jury found Rennert and Renco Group Inc liable for breach of fiduciary duty and other claims following a three-week trial over a lawsuit brought by the trustee for the estate of Magnesium Corp of America, a company the billionaire controlled until its 2001 bankruptcy.

The jury found Rennert liable for $16.222 million and Renco liable for $102 million.

Lawyers for Lee Buchwald, MagCorp's trustee, are seeking interest that could increase the award to nearly $700 million for MagCorp creditors, though Rennert's lawyers contest that figure.

Rennert, 80, is worth $6.1 billion, according to Forbes. His lawyers told U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan they plan to ask her to set aside the verdict.

"Clearly, the jury was swayed by a passionate, but wholly unsupported, argument," Renco said in a statement. "Renco and the management of MagCorp always acted properly and did not engage in the acts of which the Trustee wrongly accused them."

Renco bought Utah-based MagCorp, one of the world's largest magnesium producers, in 1989 for $44 million.

MagCorp was coming off years of financial struggles and environmental violations, yet Renco did nothing to fix those problems, Buchwald contended.

In the mid-1990s, magnesium prices reached record highs, allowing Renco to double MagCorp's long-term debt to $150 million and use the proceeds to pay $118 million to Renco and its directors in 1996.

Buchwald's lawyers said the money was improperly taken from MagCorp to finance the construction of an oceanfront, 43,000-square-foot mansion with 21 bedrooms and 18 bathrooms in Sagaponack, New York, among other expenses.

As of 2013, the property was valued at $248 million, according to the website Zillow.com.

In court papers, Rennert's lawyers described the case as an attempt to twist the story of a successful entrepreneur into "a picture of avarice."

Buchwald argued that at the time of the debt offering, MagCorp was insolvent because of environmental liabilities.

It filed for bankruptcy in 2001 after the U.S. government sought $900 million in penalties.

Rennert's lawyers argued the liabilities were contingent and unknowable at the time the debt was issued.

"At the end of the day, they understood the evidence and returned a just verdict," Scot Stirling, a lawyer for the trustee, said of the jurors.

The case is Buchwald v The Renco Group Inc, et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 13-7948. (Reporting by Joseph Ax and Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler and Alan Crosby)

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Puerto Rico's Prepa to miss restructuring deadline - official

NEW YORK Fri Feb 27, 2015 5:11pm EST

NEW YORK Feb 27 (Reuters) - Puerto rico's debt-laden power authority, Prepa, said on Friday that it will hold off on presenting a restructuring plan to creditors as it continues to negotiate an extension of forbearance agreements with bondholders and lenders.

The current agreement, which expires on March 31, had called for a deadline of this Monday for Prepa to unveil a proposal to restructure about $9 billion in debt. But it will miss that deadline, Lisa Donahue, Prepa's chief restructuring officer, said in a statement. (Reporting by Megan Davies and Nick Brown; Editing by Bernard Orr)

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UPDATE 1-Billionaire Rennert, firm must pay $118 mln for looting company -jury

Fri Feb 27, 2015 4:33pm EST

(Adds comment from Renco in sixth paragraph, additional byline)

By Joseph Ax and Nate Raymond

NEW YORK Feb 27 (Reuters) - Billionaire Ira Rennert and his investment firm were ordered on Friday to pay $118.2 million after being found liable for looting a magnesium company to build one of the most expensive mansions in America.

A Manhattan federal jury found Rennert and Renco Group Inc liable for breach of fiduciary duty and other claims following a three-week trial over a lawsuit brought by the trustee for the estate of Magnesium Corp of America, a company the billionaire controlled until its 2001 bankruptcy.

The jury found Rennert liable for $16.222 million and Renco liable for $102 million.

Lawyers for Lee Buchwald, MagCorp's trustee, are seeking interest that could increase the award to nearly $700 million for MagCorp creditors, though Rennert's lawyers contest that figure.

Rennert, 80, is worth $6.1 billion, according to Forbes. His lawyers told U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan they plan to ask her to set aside the verdict.

"Clearly, the jury was swayed by a passionate, but wholly unsupported, argument," Renco said in a statement. "Renco and the management of MagCorp always acted properly and did not engage in the acts of which the Trustee wrongly accused them."

Renco bought Utah-based MagCorp, one of the world's largest magnesium producers, in 1989 for $44 million.

MagCorp was coming off years of financial struggles and environmental violations, yet Renco did nothing to fix those problems, Buchwald contended.

In the mid-1990s, magnesium prices reached record highs, allowing Renco to double MagCorp's long-term debt to $150 million and use the proceeds to pay $118 million to Renco and its directors in 1996.

Buchwald's lawyers said the money was improperly taken from MagCorp to finance the construction of an oceanfront, 43,000-square-foot mansion with 21 bedrooms and 18 bathrooms in Sagaponack, New York, among other expenses.

As of 2013, the property was valued at $248 million, according to the website Zillow.com.

In court papers, Rennert's lawyers described the case as an attempt to twist the story of a successful entrepreneur into "a picture of avarice."

Buchwald argued that at the time of the debt offering, MagCorp was insolvent because of environmental liabilities.

It filed for bankruptcy in 2001 after the U.S. government sought $900 million in penalties.

Rennert's lawyers argued the liabilities were contingent and unknowable at the time the debt was issued.

"At the end of the day, they understood the evidence and returned a just verdict," Scot Stirling, a lawyer for the trustee, said of the jurors.

The case is Buchwald v The Renco Group Inc, et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 13-7948. (Reporting by Joseph Ax and Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler and Alan Crosby)

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