Sherwin Alumina will not emerge from bankruptcy in 2016 as previously envisioned after attorneys for the Glencore subsidiary and other parties agreed to reschedule, to January 10, a hearing to consider confirmation of the company's Chapter 11 reorganization plan and disclosure statement.
The decision to postpone what could be the final hearing in the nearly year-old bankruptcy case in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas in Corpus Christi came on the heels of Judge David R. Jones' denial of a request by the Port of Corpus Christi for a similar delay.
The port asked the court last week to suspend for 30 days the hearing, which had been scheduled December 19, to give all parties more time to review the port's newly unveiled $55 million offer to buy Sherwin's 1.65 million mt/year refinery and other assets near Gregory on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Pending before the court is a high bid of $54.5 million submitted in an April court-sanctioned auction by Corpus Christi Alumina, an affiliate of Commodity Funding, Sherwin's senior secured lender. That bid, also for substantially all of Sherwin's assets, includes only $4 million in cash.
It was not immediately clear why Sherwin consented to continue the hearing until 9 am CST January 10 in Corpus Christi, as Sherwin representatives could not be reached for comment Thursday.
