GRi Business, Economics & Finance 15
– 01 - 2003
US-based mining company to invest $450m in Ghana
Inter-bank exchange rates
Kaiser, owners of Valco
file for Chapter 11
Central Region exceeds VAT revenue target
US-based mining company to invest $450m in Ghana
The Company would operate on the
surface gold mining belt between Yamfo and Kenyasi in the Brong-Ahafo Region and Ntronang
in the Eastern region. The operation, expected to begin this year would employ
about 900 people.
W. Durand Eppler,
Vice President of the Company, said this when he led a four-man delegation to
pay a courtesy call on President John Agyekum Kufuor at the Castle, Osu, on Tuesday.
Eppler said the Company sought to
bring global environmental management, community development, job creation and
training to the youth within its area of operation.
He said the Company would
participate in an Investment Forum on
President Kufuor said the
government needed good corporate citizenship with all investors in the country.
"We want strategic partners to develop the communities where they operate
for the benefit of the people."
Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of
Finance, appealed to investors, especially mining companies, to transact
business with the local banks instead of only the foreign banks. Kwadwo Adjei
Darko, Minister of Mines, said the Ministry had initiated an Alternate
Livelihood Arrangement programme with investors in the mining sector.
He explained that under the
programme, the investors were expected to provide other skills for their
employees so that at the end of their operations, the employees could have
other jobs to do.
The Minister of Mines said most
of the mining communities had become depleted and places of abject poverty
after the exhaustion of the minerals. Professor Dominic Fobih,
Minister of Science and Environment, said the country's Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA) was now the best in the sub-region.
He said investors were expected
to deposit some funds into an account operated by the government and when the
mining companies defaulted in the provision of effective rehabilitation
programme for the communities there would be funds for the inhabitants to
improve on their environment.
Professor Fobih
said there had been a remarkable improvement in relations between mining
companies and the communities. Professor Kasim Kassanga, Minister of Lands and Forestry, said the
Ministry, in conjunction with the Ministry of Mines, was working out modalities
for the operation of mining companies in the forest reserves. He urged the
mining companies to offer the needed assistance to the government in its
re-afforestation programme.
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Inter-bank exchange rates
Currency Buying Selling
U.S. Dollar 8,302.55 cedis
8,493.73 cedis
Pound
Swiss Franc
5,998.12 6,133.72
Canadian Dollar 5,388.80
5,510.81
Danish Kroner 1,180.27 1,206.95
Japanese Yen
69.84
71.42
South African
Euro 8,768.97 8,970.14
CFA Franc 13.37 13.67
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Kaiser owners of
Valco
file for Chapter 11
Houston (United States) 14
January 2003 - In a move that is expected to have no impact on day-to-day
operations, nine additional wholly owned subsidiaries of Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation today (Wednesday) filed
voluntary petitions with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware
under Chapter 11 of the Federal Bankruptcy Code.
"From an operating
perspective, the filings are a non-event," said Jack A. Hockema, President and Chief Executive Officer of Kaiser Aluminum. "Financial liquidity remains strong and is
further protected by the actions taken today."
The voluntary filings were
initiated to, among other things, protect the assets
held by these subsidiaries against possible statutory liens that may arise from
the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) if Kaiser does not make a $15m
contribution to its salaried pension plan by January 15. (The company had
previously disclosed that it did not intend to seek Bankruptcy Court approval
to make that payment).
Such possible statutory liens
would, among other things, violate the provisions of Kaiser's
Debtor-in-Possession (DIP) credit agreement. The filings include the
The filings also include the
legal entities through which Kaiser owns its interest in an aluminum
extrusion plant in London, Ontario, but Kaiser expects court approvals (through
the U.S. Court and through an ancillary application to the Ontario Superior
Court of Justice in Toronto, Canada of measures that will eliminate any impact
on operations at that facility.
Hockema said, "We want to be
absolutely certain that customers, employees, and suppliers understand that
these filings will have no impact on the day-to-day operations of Alpart, KJBC, and
We expect the Bankruptcy Court
to approve our request to permit the filed entities to continue to make
payments in the normal course of business (including payments of pre-petition
amounts) to creditors and others for items such as materials and supplies, freight,
taxes and, of course, salaries, wages, and benefits for employees."
Kaiser expects approval of such
payments primarily because the amounts are not material and are essential to
ongoing operations. The company also expects approval of a continuation of
routine inter-company transactions involving, for example, the transfer of
materials and supplies among affiliates.
"In short, the filings
simply represent yet another step on the path toward the company's
restructuring and eventual emergence from Chapter 11," said Hockema.
The company also has received a
waiver from the DIP lenders to assure that the availability under the DIP
credit agreement will not be affected by the failure to make the pension
payment, the additional Chapter 11 filings, or the imposition of any statutory
PBGC liens. In addition, the company and its DIP lenders expect to seek
approval of a further amendment to the DIP credit agreement to formally
incorporate the waiver provisions.
The filings include the
following subsidiaries, all of which are
Others are Kaiser Center Properties, Kaiser Export Company, Kaiser Bauxite
Company (not the KJBC bauxite mining operation), Kaiser
At the time of its original
Chapter 11 filings in 2002, it did not appear to be necessary to include these
nine subsidiaries in the bankruptcy proceedings. However, in light of the
accelerated funding requirement for the salaried retirement plan - and in light
of the steps taken to ensure that the filings have no impact on operations - it
was determined that today's filings constituted an appropriate and prudent
protective measure.
Certain other majority-owned
subsidiaries, such as the legal entity that owns the Valco
aluminum smelter, have not been included in the
filings to date for a variety of legal, technical, or jurisdictional reasons.
Instead, and where pertinent, measures intended to provide similar protection
are being pursued.
Kaiser and 16 of its subsidiaries
originally filed Chapter 11 petitions in February and March of 2002. In
connection with those cases, Kaiser had previously obtained U.S. Bankruptcy
Court approval to set
Kaiser Aluminum
& Chemical Corporation, the operating subsidiary of Kaiser Aluminum Corporation (OTCBB:KLUCQ),
is a leading producer of alumina, primary aluminum
and fabricated aluminum products.
Background
On
Through the initial stages of
the restructuring, there has been no material impact on the way we operate
Kaiser’s facilities. The company remains focused on providing the highest
quality products and best in class customer service that has been Kaiser’s
hallmark.
The Court has approved the
company’s $300 million Debtor-in-Possession financing facility along with
normal course business activities. A
Creditor’s Committee (representing trade creditors and bondholders) and an
Asbestos Committee have been named to work with Kaiser on the development of
its Plan of Reorganization.
While Kaiser is making good
progress, the restructuring is a complex process that will require additional
time to complete.
What is Chapter 11?
A Chapter 11 filing is a
voluntary action taken by a
The company will immediately
seek authority to continue to provide employees with the salaries and benefits
that existed prior to the Chapter 11 filing. It is also able to do business
with suppliers and customers in a routine manner so that it can continue to create
funds to satisfy creditors.
The Court gives amounts due to
suppliers for material or services provided after a Chapter 11 filing
preferential status so that they may continue to be paid under normal terms.
After a company files Chapter
11, one or more official committees that represent the interests of general
unsecured creditors and/or other creditors may be appointed. Normally these
committees are actively involved in the process to monitor and protect the
interests of unsecured and certain other creditors during the Chapter 11
proceedings.
Another major step in the
Chapter 11 process is providing notice to anyone who believes they have a
claim, financial or otherwise, against a company. Notice procedures are
established by the court and notice is given to people with claims alerting
them that their claims must be brought forward by a certain date. By the end of
the notice period, all claims must be submitted or they will be barred forever.
The Chapter 11 process will end
when the Court has approved a plan of reorganization for a company. This plan
is usually developed by a company in conjunction with its creditors.
In Chapter 11, the debtor
company has up to 120 days (after the filing date) to submit a Plan of
Reorganization. This is an exclusive period when no creditors or other parties
may submit competing plans. This document plan typically spells our how the
company plans to emerge from Chapter 11. If the plan is not ready after 120
days, the judge may extend the deadline. After the expiration of the
exclusivity period, creditors may submit their own plans if they are
dissatisfied with the company’s plan.
Ultimately, the approved Plan of
Reorganization establishes the amount, type and timing of payment that will be
made to the holders of allowed claims, as well as the capital structure of the
reorganized company.
Source: http://www.kaiseral.com/kaiser/kaisermain.nsf
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Central Region exceeds VAT revenue target
Ben Hutchful, Deputy Regional Commissioner who made this known
to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in
Hutchful said his outfit arrested nine traders last year for failing to issue
Vat receipts to consumers, and that they will soon be put before court to serve
as a deterrent. He said his office would continue to educate the public on the
need to pay VAT and defaulters are liable to a fine of 10 million cedis or in
default five years imprisonment.
He
mentioned lack of logistics as the major problem facing the office and appealed
to the government to consider opening more branches in the region to enhance
their work.
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