Groups of creditors object to postponement of the bankruptcy plan of the airline Latam

Two groups of creditors of the Chilean airline Latam, the largest in Latin America, presented in a New York court their objections to the request of the airline to extend for the fifth time and until November 26 the deadline to present its reorganization plan to get out of bankruptcy.

They are Parent ad hoc Claimant Group, Latam’s largest group of unsecured creditors with more than $ 4 billion in claims and approximately $ 740 million in bonds, and Latam’s “Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors.”

In a brief presented to Judge James Garrity, who is presiding over the bankruptcy court that is handling the Latam case, Parent ad hoc Claimant Group opposes an extension if it is not accompanied by an order from the judge obliging the parties to mediation. in certain matters that have prevented Latam from proposing to date an exit plan from Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Law.

“Despite the efforts and commitment of some parties over the past month, it has become very clear that the parties are in fundamental disagreement on key legal issues,” the group said before underlining that a new extension on them terms that the above “will not help the case move forward.”

Thus, this group, which supported the fourth extension for the presentation of the plan, asked the judge to appoint a mediator who “can help advance the negotiations underway.”

“In the absence of a mediator, there is no reason to believe that the latest request from the debtors (Latam) for an extension of exclusivity will produce more progress than the previous ones,” they underline before writing in bold that the “debtors are still far from having a consensual and confirmable plan to present to the Court “

For its part, The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors mentions its “growing concerns.”

“The Committee remains deeply concerned that a further extension could be used simply to pressure creditors to adhere to a plan that rewards shareholders who run out of money on account of their equity stakes to expense of unsecured creditors “, reads the brief presented to the judge by this second group.

Latam requested on October 14 a new extension, the fifth, to extend until November 26 the deadline to present its reorganization plan and on which the judge who is handling his case in New York will have to rule next week.

The company then explained, in a statement, that the request “supports the continuity of progress in the negotiations with the various parties interested in the Chapter 11 procedure” of the United States Bankruptcy Law, which was voluntarily filed in May 2020 after the economic blow that the pandemic hit.

Both the parent company -which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Santiago Stock Exchange- as well as its subsidiaries in Chile, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and the United States filed for the Bankruptcy Law allows a company that cannot Pay off your debts restructured without pressure from creditors. (I)