American Western Refining sets bidding auction procedure
RADNOR, Pa.--Dec. 3, 1996--On Wednesday, Nov. 6, 1996, American Western
Refining, L.P. ("American"), current owner of an 86,000 barrel per day refinery,
located in Lawrenceville, Ill. and a petroleum storage terminal, located in Mt.
Vernon, Ind., (the "Assets"), filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the
Bankruptcy Code.
American petitioned the Bankruptcy Court for approval of post- petition secured
financing in order to preserve the Assets. This order was approved in part on Nov.
13, 1996, and a second hearing was held on Nov. 22, 1996, at which time the
approval was obtained providing for the necessary financing to maintain the Assets
through Dec. 31, 1996.
The financing will be used to secure the Assets, maintain the equipment in order to
prevent damage and corrosion, comply with environmental regulatory requirements
and monitoring standards, and to assure that appropriate safety standards are
maintained.
It is imperative that the facilities be maintained to assure American's ability to
consummate a sale of the Assets within the required time frame and to maximize the
return to its creditors.
American will petition the Bankruptcy Court for approval to sell the Assets under
Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code. An order authorizing bidding procedures and
guidelines for the sale of the Assets was entered by the Court on Nov. 27, 1996.
All qualified bids must be submitted for review by the Debtor no later than Dec. 17,
1996. The bidding auction will be held on Dec. 20, 1996, in Wilmington, Del.
CONTACT: American Western Refining, L.P. Chris A. Woods, 610/964-9640
Bonneville Pacific Corporation Announces Settlement
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - Dec. 3, 1996 - Bonneville Pacific Corporation (BPCO),
through its Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Trustee (Roger G. Segal), announces today that a
settlement has been reached with another defendant in the civil action entitled Segal v.
Portland General, et al, now pending in the United States District Court for the
District of Utah, Case No. 92-C-364J.
The settlement is with Westinghouse Electric Corporation ("Westinghouse"), which
admits no liability, and provides for payment by Westinghouse to Bonneville Pacific
Corporation of Six Million Dollars ($6,000,000.00). Pursuant to the settlement,
Westinghouse is required to pay $3,000,000 to the Trustee by not later than April 10,
1997, and an additional $3,000,000 to the Trustee by not later than April 10, 1998.
The settlement provides for the mutual general release of claims, including, but not
limited to, the release by Westinghouse of its previously allowed deeply subordinated
claim in the amount of $6,000,000.
The settlement is conditioned upon approval by the United States District Court (the
Honorable Bruce S. Jenkins) and by the United States Bankruptcy Court (the
Honorable John H. Allen).
The litigation is being prosecuted on behalf of the Trustee by the law firm of Beus,
Gilbert & Morrill (Phoenix) pursuant to a contingent fee agreement. That contingent
fee agreement, which has been approved by the Bankruptcy Court, provides that Beus,
Gilbert & Morrill is entitled, as a fee, after deduction of litigation costs, to
thirty-three percent (33%) of any litigation recoveries received by the Trustee less
fees paid to the Trustee's local counsel, Cohne, Rappaport & Segal (Salt Lake). Any
fees must be allowed (approved) by the Bankruptcy Court.
SOURCE Bonneville Pacific Corp. /CONTACT: Roger G. Segal, Chapter 11 Trustee
for Bonneville Pacific, 801-532-2666/
The Claridge Announces Proposed Restructuring of its 11 3/4 Percent First Mortgage
Notes Due 2002
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J., - Dec. 3, 1996 - The Claridge Hotel and Casino
Corporation, operator of The Claridge Casino Hotel here, held a meeting of its
Noteholders today in New York at which it announced a proposal for restructuring its
obligations under its 11 3/4 percent First Mortgage Notes due 2002.
The general terms of the proposal are set forth below. The terms set forth below
should not be considered to constitute an offer by the Claridge to restructure the Notes
upon these terms. At the meeting of Noteholders held today, the Claridge urged the
Noteholders to form a steering committee or other representative body to conduct
negotiations. No definitive offer will be made by the Claridge until the terms thereof
have been agreed in principle with those representatives, at which time a definitive
offer would be made to the Noteholders in general in accordance with applicable
law, including, if necessary, by means of a prospectus contained in a registration
statement filed with and declared effective by the Securities and Exchange
Commission. In addition, any restructuring would be subject to approval by the
holders of the requisite principal amount of Notes and it is anticipated that it would be
subject to bankruptcy court confirmation in a "pre-packaged" Chapter 11 case. As a
result, there can be no assurance that a restructuring of the obligations of the Claridge
would proceed on the terms set forth below or that any restructuring will be
effectuated.
The terms of the proposed restructuring presented at the meeting of the Noteholders
are as follows: First, the existing $85 million of First Mortgage Notes due 2002 of the
Claridge would be exchanged for $15 million of First Mortgage Notes due 2003 and
common stock representing 95 percent of the equity of the reorganized Claridge.
The land, buildings and non-casino equipment used by the Claridge in the operation of
its business are leased from Atlantic City Boardwalk Associates, L.P. (the
"Partnership") under an operating lease (the "Operating Lease"), and the land,
buildings and such equipment provides security under a wraparound mortgage
obligation (the "Wraparound Mortgage") of the Partnership to the Claridge. A second
part of the restructuring proposal would involve substantial reduction of the scheduled
lease payments to be made by the Claridge to the Partnership through the year 2000 in
the amount of approximately $30 million, with the Partnership to receive from the
Claridge under the Operating Lease amounts sufficient to fulfill its obligations to
provide maintenance services to the Claridge and to pay the ongoing administrative
expenses of the Partnership. After the year 2000, an additional $1 million to $1.5
million may be paid to the Partnership under the Operating Lease.
In exchange for the reduction in rent under the Operating Lease, the Claridge would
agree to an extension of the maturity date of the Wraparound Mortgage from the year
2000 to 2003 and would agree to provide the Partnership with 5 percent of the equity
of the reorganized Claridge. It should be noted
that, although the General Partners of the Partnership have agreed in principle to a
restructuring of their obligations to each other along the general terms described
above, the Partnership has no obligation to do so and is only expected to do so if the
General Partners are otherwise satisfied with the terms of the restructuring of the
obligations of the Claridge.
Thirdly, it is contemplated that the restructuring of the obligations of the Claridge
would be effected through a prepackaged bankruptcy proceeding under Chapter 11 of
the Bankruptcy Code pursuant to which the existing Contingent Payment obligations of
the Claridge would be extinguished and the existing common stock of the Claridge
would be extinguished. The proposed restructuring also contemplates that the
management of the Claridge would be eligible to receive incentive options.
It was noted at the meeting of Noteholders that the restructuring outlined above would
permit the Claridge to emerge as a publicly traded company with significantly lower
debt service obligations. This should improve the operational and financial flexibility
of the Claridge to take advantage of long term growth opportunities in the Atlantic
City gaming market and should provide liquidity to the Noteholders.
Finally, it was emphasized at the meeting that the Claridge desired to effect a
restructuring of its obligations in a consensual setting so as to minimize the expenses
of the restructuring and thereby maximize the value to all creditor constituencies. The
Noteholders were urged to form a committee as a first step of the consensual
restructuring process and were reminded that the Claridge had retained Dillon Read
& Co. Inc. to advise the Claridge on the restructuring. Dillon, Read & Co. Inc. may be
reached at 212-906- 7000, attention John Brim.
The financial condition of the Claridge through September 30, 1996, is set forth in its
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
SOURCE The Claridge Hotel and Casino Corporation /CONTACT: Glenn Lillie or
Robert Rennelsen or Ray Spera, all of The Claridge Hotel and Casino,
609-340-3501, or fax, 609-340-3589/
Jayhawk Acceptance Corporation Announces Growth of New Subsidiary
DALLAS, TX - Dec. 3, 1996 - Jayhawk Acceptance Corporation (Nasdaq: JACC)
announced the continued strong growth of the medical finance program offered by its
wholly owned subsidiary Jayhawk Medical Acceptance Corporation. During
November 1996, Jayhawk Medical enrolled 273 physicians and booked $984,000
principal amount of loans, bringing the number of physicians enrolled and principal
amount of loans booked since the program's inception in August 1996 to 571 and $1.6
million, respectively. The Company currently estimates that Jayhawk Medical's
revenues for the fourth quarter of 1996 will grow to approximately $700,000, from
the reported $37,000 for the third quarter of 1996. As a result of the roll-out of this
new program, the Company currently estimates that Jayhawk Medical will incur an
operating loss reducing Jayhawk Acceptance Corporation's earnings by approximately
$0.05 per share for the fourth quarter of 1996.
Jayhawk Acceptance Corporation's Chairman and CEO, Michael I. Smartt, said, "We
are very pleased with both our automotive finance program and our new medical
finance program. Our automotive finance business is on track for the fourth quarter,
and Jayhawk Medical continues to meet our expectations. Although the roll-out of the
Jayhawk Medical program will partially offset the anticipated results of the
Company's automotive finance business through at least the first quarter of 1997, we
cannot ignore the opportunities exhibited by the medical finance program. We view
the expansion of Jayhawk Medical as an investment in the Company's future."
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this
press release are forward-looking statements that are dependent upon a number of
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in
the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include the Company's
actual rate of growth, delinquency and default rates with respect to the contracts
included in the Company's portfolio, the impact of competitive services and products,
changes in market conditions, consumer acceptance of the Company's products, the
impact of regulation or litigation, the management of growth and the other risk factors
identified in the Company's SEC filings, including under the caption "Risk Factors" in
its most recent Registration Statement on Form S-1. The Company does not intend to
provide updated information about the matters referred to in these forward-looking
statements, other than in the context of management's discussion and analysis in the
Company's quarterly and annual reports on Form 10-Q and 10-K.
Jayhawk Acceptance Corporation is a specialized financial services company
headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
SOURCE Jayhawk Acceptance Corporation /CONTACT: Virginia L. Cleveland of
Jayhawk Acceptance Corporation, 972-663-1238/
Moody's lowers Miami's general obligation bond rating to Ba1; city seeks outside
intervention to help solve financial crisis
NEW YORK, NY --Dec. 3, 1996--Yesterday Moody's lowered the rating on Miami's
general obligation bonds from Baa to Ba1. The severity of the current budget crisis,
coupled with political resistance even to relatively moderate revenue enhancement
proposals, make it appear increasingly questionable that the city will be able to
restore fiscal balance without some form of outside intervention. The rating remains
under review pending further action by city officials to adopt a viable recovery plan.
City officials report that cash position is currently adequate, with $45 million in
pooled cash remaining after $10.8 million in debt service payments made today.
Current balances and the anticipated receipt of ad valorem property taxes, most of
which come in over the next two months, should enable the city to meet operating and
debt service costs through March 1997, even with no additional revenue or
expenditure actions. State and city officials are also considering third-party
segregation of cash to secure debt service payments for the foreseeable future. To
date, no action has been taken in this regard.
State officials have indicated that they will imminently declare the City of Miami to
be in a state of "Financial Emergency". This would allow the governor to pursue
several options, the most likely of which is appointment of a financial emergencies
board with powers to exercise strong oversight of the city's financial operations.
Although city officials have introduced the possibility of filing for bankruptcy under
Chapter 9, it should be noted that Florida statutes prohibit the city from taking such
action without the governor's permission.
Approaching milestones for the City of Miami are Commission meetings on the 12th
and 23rd of this month to consider and adopt a fiscal recovery plan. Based on actions
taken to date, there are currently two critical components of the recovery plan -- a
significant increase in the solid waste collection fee and union concessions. The
Commission's failure to enact these or other viable budget balancing measures could
result in a further deterioration of the city's credit quality.
At this time, Moody's has also lowered the rating on $3.6 million Miami Community
Redevelopment District Bonds from Baa to Ba1. The bonds are secured by tax
increment revenues generated in the district and state-guaranteed entitlement funds
received by the city.
CONTACT: John Incorvaia, 212/553-0501 Linda Lipnick, 212/553-1617 Brad
Gewehr, 212/553-4789 Journalists: 212/553-1925 Subscribers: 212/553-1653 All
other inquiries: 212/553-1650