Judge to approve latest deal to buy Atlantic City's Revel Casino

April 2 (Reuters) - A federal bankruptcy judge in New Jersey on Thursday said she would approve an $82 million sale of Atlantic City's Revel Casino Hotel to Florida developer Glenn Straub.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Gloria Burns said from the bench that she would sign off on the deal, the third one she has approved. The previous two agreements failed.

The offer, from polo club owner and distressed real estate mogul Straub, is a far cry from the $2.4 billion it cost to build the gleaming casino complex. Revel opened in 2012 to much fanfare but never turned a profit and went bankrupt twice.

Burns delayed the approval in part to see if other interested buyers could finalize deals, but none did. Burns noted that Revel's estate was losing money every day as it waited.

"We've been here multiple times," she said, adding that she would approve the latest deal with Straub.

Straub's previous agreement, to buy Revel for $95 million, failed to close on time. Before that, Brookfield Asset Management backed out of its $110 million agreement. (Reporting by Hilary Russ; Editing by David Gregorio)

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BRIEF-Dmail Group wants to file to court request to for admission to procedure for arrangement with creditors

April 3 (Reuters) - Dmail Group SpA :

* Announced on Thursday that it has decided to file to a relevant court a request for admission to the procedure for arrangement with creditors

* The resolution was adopted as a result of the checks performed which found it impossible to achieve the expected results from the debt restructuring agreement approved on July 31, 2014

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(Gdynia Newsroom)

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Italy prosecutor requests trial for current and former UniCredit chiefs

BARI, Italy, April 3 (Reuters) - An Italian prosecutor has asked for the current and former chief executives of UniCredit to stand trial over the bank's alleged role in the 2004 bankruptcy of sofa company Divania, a person close to the matter said on Friday.

The local prosecutor in the southern town of Bari has asked for Unicredit chief executive Federico Ghizzoni and his predecessor Alessandro Profumo to stand trial along with 14 others, on charges of abetting bankruptcy.

Prosecutors allege that UniCredit, Italy's biggest bank by assets, persuaded Divania to sign 203 derivatives contracts in 2002 and 2003 that led to losses of 15 million euros ($16.5 million) and the company's eventual bankruptcy, according to judicial sources.

UniCredit reiterated on Friday its long-held position that its current and past employees had behaved correctly with relation to Divania, which once employed 400 people in Italy's "Sofa District".

The bank said in a statement that Ghizzoni had been working abroad at the time of the events in question so could not have been involved in any way.

UniCredit added that a Bari court had decided last year, in a separate strand of the investigation, to acquit all the bank's current and former employees who had been involved.

Profumo, currently chairman of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, said on Friday that there had been no wrongdoing in the current case, just as there had not been in the one that eventually led to last year's acquittals.

According to a 2008 article in Italian magazine L'Espresso, Divania's owner, Francesco Saverio Parisi, said he was badly advised by UniCredit and claimed 280 million euros in damages.

UniCredit said the court sentence that upheld Divania's bankruptcy in June 2011 showed that the company's derivatives transactions could not have played a role in its collapse.

Losses incurred through derivatives contracts for complex financial transactions have prompted several lawsuits in Italy. Many local governments and small companies have accused banks of misleading them to gain a profit.

A judge must now review the case and decide whether to order a trial or else reject the prosecutor's request. (Additional reporting by Valentina Za, writing by Isla Binnie; Editing by Crispian Balmer)

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BRIEF-Dmail Group wants to file to court request to for admission to procedure for arrangement with creditors

April 3 (Reuters) - Dmail Group SpA :

* Announced on Thursday that it has decided to file to a relevant court a request for admission to the procedure for arrangement with creditors

* The resolution was adopted as a result of the checks performed which found it impossible to achieve the expected results from the debt restructuring agreement approved on July 31, 2014

Source text for Eikon:

Further company coverage:

(Gdynia Newsroom)

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Judge to approve latest deal to buy Atlantic City's Revel Casino

April 2 (Reuters) - A federal bankruptcy judge in New Jersey on Thursday said she would approve an $82 million sale of Atlantic City's Revel Casino Hotel to Florida developer Glenn Straub.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Gloria Burns said from the bench that she would sign off on the deal, the third one she has approved. The previous two agreements failed.

The offer, from polo club owner and distressed real estate mogul Straub, is a far cry from the $2.4 billion it cost to build the gleaming casino complex. Revel opened in 2012 to much fanfare but never turned a profit and went bankrupt twice.

Burns delayed the approval in part to see if other interested buyers could finalize deals, but none did. Burns noted that Revel's estate was losing money every day as it waited.

"We've been here multiple times," she said, adding that she would approve the latest deal with Straub.

Straub's previous agreement, to buy Revel for $95 million, failed to close on time. Before that, Brookfield Asset Management backed out of its $110 million agreement. (Reporting by Hilary Russ; Editing by David Gregorio)

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Italy prosecutor requests trial for current and former UniCredit chiefs

BARI, Italy, April 3 (Reuters) - An Italian prosecutor has asked for the current and former chief executives of UniCredit to stand trial over the bank's alleged role in the 2004 bankruptcy of sofa company Divania, a person close to the matter said on Friday.

The local prosecutor in the southern town of Bari has asked for Unicredit chief executive Federico Ghizzoni and his predecessor Alessandro Profumo to stand trial along with 14 others, on charges of abetting bankruptcy.

Prosecutors allege that UniCredit, Italy's biggest bank by assets, persuaded Divania to sign 203 derivatives contracts in 2002 and 2003 that led to losses of 15 million euros ($16.5 million) and the company's eventual bankruptcy, according to judicial sources.

UniCredit reiterated on Friday its long-held position that its current and past employees had behaved correctly with relation to Divania, which once employed 400 people in Italy's "Sofa District".

The bank said in a statement that Ghizzoni had been working abroad at the time of the events in question so could not have been involved in any way.

UniCredit added that a Bari court had decided last year, in a separate strand of the investigation, to acquit all the bank's current and former employees who had been involved.

Profumo, currently chairman of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, said on Friday that there had been no wrongdoing in the current case, just as there had not been in the one that eventually led to last year's acquittals.

According to a 2008 article in Italian magazine L'Espresso, Divania's owner, Francesco Saverio Parisi, said he was badly advised by UniCredit and claimed 280 million euros in damages.

UniCredit said the court sentence that upheld Divania's bankruptcy in June 2011 showed that the company's derivatives transactions could not have played a role in its collapse.

Losses incurred through derivatives contracts for complex financial transactions have prompted several lawsuits in Italy. Many local governments and small companies have accused banks of misleading them to gain a profit.

A judge must now review the case and decide whether to order a trial or else reject the prosecutor's request. (Additional reporting by Valentina Za, writing by Isla Binnie; Editing by Crispian Balmer)

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Brazil court accepts OAS request for creditor protection

SAO PAULO, April 2 (Reuters) - A Brazilian state court accepted a bankruptcy protection request filed by engineering conglomerate Grupo OAS for nine of its units, in the largest corporate failure yet related to the snowballing Petróleo Brasileiro SA corruption scandal.

The decision on Thursday by Judge Daniel Carnio Costa at São Paulo State's 1st District of Judicial Recoveries allows Grupo OAS to begin steps to renegotiate about 8 billion reais ($2.5 billion) in debt, according to a statement. OAS has 60 days to present a debt restructuring proposal to all creditors.

OAS said that every debt incurred from the start of April will be fully repaid, while the bankruptcy protection proceedings will not imperil the payment of salaries and work benefits for the group's 100,000 employees. The Brazilian unit of Alvarez & Marsal Holdings LLC was picked as advisor for the bankruptcy.

The group's decision to enter bankruptcy proceedings on Tuesday was endorsed by creditors and is considered as a prerequisite to restructure OAS' debt with banks, suppliers and bondholders. Plans to obtain a debtor-in-possession loan and talks to sell key assets are at an advanced stage, executives told Reuters that day.

Grupo OAS has struggled for months with the impact of a corruption investigation at state-controlled oil producer Petróleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras. Findings by prosecutors that OAS paid bribes to win contracts undercut the builder's access to financing.

The corruption scandal at Petrobras is considered as Brazil's biggest ever, affecting billions of reais in contracts between the oil firm and more than two dozen contractors. An economic downturn, government austerity and a slumping currency also took their toll on OAS in recent months.

OAS follows rivals Alumini Engenharia SA and Galvão Engenharia SA, which filed for bankruptcy protection in recent months as the scandal escalated. Prosecutors say the three firms were part of a cartel of about two dozen firms that paid bribes to Petrobras executives and politicians in exchange for contracts. (Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Christian Plumb)

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Judge to approve latest deal to buy Atlantic City's Revel Casino

April 2 (Reuters) - A federal bankruptcy judge in New Jersey on Thursday said she would approve an $82 million sale of Atlantic City's Revel Casino Hotel to Florida developer Glenn Straub.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Gloria Burns said from the bench that she would sign off on the deal, the third one she has approved. The previous two agreements failed.

The offer, from polo club owner and distressed real estate mogul Straub, is a far cry from the $2.4 billion it cost to build the gleaming casino complex. Revel opened in 2012 to much fanfare but never turned a profit and went bankrupt twice.

Burns delayed the approval in part to see if other interested buyers could finalize deals, but none did. Burns noted that Revel's estate was losing money every day as it waited.

"We've been here multiple times," she said, adding that she would approve the latest deal with Straub.

Straub's previous agreement, to buy Revel for $95 million, failed to close on time. Before that, Brookfield Asset Management backed out of its $110 million agreement. (Reporting by Hilary Russ; Editing by David Gregorio)

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BRIEF-Dmail Group wants to file to court request to for admission to procedure for arrangement with creditors

April 3 (Reuters) - Dmail Group SpA :

* Announced on Thursday that it has decided to file to a relevant court a request for admission to the procedure for arrangement with creditors

* The resolution was adopted as a result of the checks performed which found it impossible to achieve the expected results from the debt restructuring agreement approved on July 31, 2014

Source text for Eikon:

Further company coverage:

(Gdynia Newsroom)

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PRESS DIGEST- Wall Street Journal - April 2

April 2 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories in the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

* Europe's competition regulator is preparing to move against Google Inc. in the next few weeks, a person familiar with the matter said Wednesday, setting the stage for charges against the U.S. Internet-search giant in a five-year-old investigation that has stalled three times and sparked a political firestorm. (on.wsj.com/1DxOGAh)

* McDonald's Corp plans to raise wages by more than 10 percent for workers at U.S. restaurants it operates - fresh evidence of the rising wage pressure in the American labor market. (on.wsj.com/1DxOW2d)

* Federal prosecutors have begun to look at a presentation organized by investor William Ackman on Herbalife's operations in China, as part of a probe into potential market manipulation of the company's stock, according to people familiar with the matter. (on.wsj.com/1DxPB3C)

* After a brush with liquidation last week, a reincarnated version of the RadioShack electronics chain will debut later in April under the ownership of hedge fund Standard General LP with an assist from Sprint Corp. (on.wsj.com/1DxQ5GO)

* The U.S. commodities regulator sued giant food companies Kraft Foods Group Inc and Mondelez Global LLC over alleged manipulation of wheat prices in 2011, marking a fresh crackdown on how companies outside the financial industry use derivatives markets. (on.wsj.com/1DxQR6G)

* The Securities and Exchange Commission announced a settlement Wednesday with KBR Inc over allegations it used employment agreements that could have muzzled whistleblowers, a move that marks the agency's first-ever enforcement action of this kind. (on.wsj.com/1DxQKYR) (Compiled by Ankush Sharma in Bengaluru)

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