There was a resolution passed on the May 24, 2013 with more stringent strings attached but not impossible to achieve....
The City Attorney's office further reported that it lacks any immediate civil recourse against Exide, but that it continues to investigate the possibility of pursuing criminal penalties. Talking about grabbing straws. here is the link to read the whole thing.
...http://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=13-0630
...http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2013/13-0630_rpt_cla_05-24-13.pdf
It seems that the liability is minimized to about up $10 million dollars for closure.
Laws require that hazardous waste handlers put up money.... to prove they can cover the cost of fixes ordered by regulators. Companies also have to show financial assurance that can cover the closure of a facility and its long-term care.
“The DTSC never demanded that Exide Technologies put up money for any required fixes,” said Tucker. “And Exide has only put up $10 million dollars for closure, that is nowhere near enough if it comes to it to take care of a highly contaminated slag landfill for decades into the future.”
DTSC officials regulating Exide warned their managers years ago that Exide was emitting lead and arsenic into the air where it was accumulating at hazardous waste levels onto the ground and surrounding roofs, said Tucker, and they were told to ignore the problem.
“If the DTSC had taken stronger action much earlier, then the company would have put up the money for the corrective actions that regulators had already called for,” said consumer advocate Liza Tucker. “This way Californians could be left holding the bag.”
The only other lead battery recycler in California, Quemetco won’t be able to handle the 11 million car batteries that Exide recycles every year. “This is a classic situation where we privatized the profits and socialized the costs,” Tucker said. “If Exide closes, will regulators demand that companies selling used batteries to Exide pay for this? Or will the taxpayer be on the hook? I think I know how that plays out.”Here is the link to read the whole thing.
...http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/newsrelease/top-toxics-regulator-suspends-lead-battery-recycler-exide-consumer-watchdog-warns-califo#.UXmPiAw_jUw.facebook
As far as Debtwire article it seems to be a Story by two sources familiar with the matter and an advisory source, and smells as a rerun from Back in April ., just as the Seeking Alpha report was bogus just a soapy article using references from back in April..
And then you have distressed-debt-investing.com..., Exide Deal with Converts More Likely than Bankruptcy Risk, Barring Unforeseen Events Bonds of auto battery recycler Exide have been heavily traded over the past week, but not at levels that contemplate insolvency.
...http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:41Cqd8Rhg64J:www.distressed-debt-investing.com/2013/04/reorg-research-weekly-recap_16.html+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a
...http://www.debtwire.com/tools/newsletter.asp?guid=e82a47146ba2460fa4965d53f47bbcee
...http://www.streetinsider.com/Rumors/Exide+Technologies+(XIDE)+in+Talks+for+DIP+Loan+Through+Chapter+11+-+Debtwire/8368421.html...
And then there is Thompson Reuters May 20, 2013 with an article about Metals, Lead which sounds it could benefit exide due to lower Lead prices and a disappearing demand for Lead.
"Moreover, there's been a major supply outage in the form of Exide Technologies' forced closure of its 90,000-tonne per year
Vernon recycling plant in California on environmental grounds. But it's not a shortage of refining capacity that has been the
problem in the U.S. in recent months. It's been too much capacity chasing too little scrap."
" So, while there is a case to be made that the physical market is relatively tight, it's almost certainly not as tight as implied by LME stocks.The International Lead and Zinc Study Group, for instance, assesses the global refined lead market as being in small 17,000 tonne deficit over the first quarter of 2013. Compare and contrast with the 56,700-tonne decline in LME stocks over the same period. And with the further 21,000-tonne decline since the start of April. And with the 155,300 tonnes in the LME's cancelled warrant departure lounge. Physical market deficit seems highly unlikely to be the sole driver. Stocks are either being moved off market under financing deals or they are merely being shuffled by trader-warehouses. It's worth noting that the single largest concentration of cancelled tonnage in the LME war ehousing system, 62,875 tonnes, is at Antwerp.
Remember... Exide Technologies needs only about 90,000-tonne per year, and the price of recycling and just buying it could get closer to parity the lower Lead prices gets.... one could look at old exide slides regarding price divergence between them 2.
...http://share.thomsonreuters.com/assets/newsletters/Inside_Metals/IM_May_20_2013.pdf...
What info I have available so far is that XIDE has $533 million in receivables, +$80 million cash. = ~$600 million liquidity.......Just the cash on hand warrants $1.00 a share price.....But the risk I guess is perceived as very high by the market and/or could just be an opportunity for Exide to buy some debt and increase the return at later time for shareholders... if it stay put long enough.....There could be some politics regarding Vernon and Quemetco....that spend over 18 million and exide did not on plant upgrades......So much smoke and angles that it truly could be a soap TV show on its own class.....
So.... as a proud bag holder I have compiled this info as so much other have done the same in hope that someone out here have some info that will shed some more light and not lighten the shares of others by means of panic .....and for some that I perceive at this moment as truly incomplete Information to make me sell...without regrets....for at least ~2 months.... Oh..., and last did anybody notice those ambulance lawyers appear with depressing lawsuits right at the Highs and Lows of stock price on all the news channels... go Figure....I guess they got till June 15 to make the most of it....
Here is another great Long side article,
...http://seekingalpha.com/instablog/1056247-teodor-rasa/1890371-exide-s-battery-not-spent?source=kizur... |
