Enron to Unveil Reorganization Plan
Thu May 2, 2:09 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bankrupt Enron Corp., the former
energy trading giant, expects to unveil on Friday a plan
to reorganize itself into a much smaller distribution and
generation company.
Enron said Thursday it will meet
with the committee of its creditors to
show the blueprint for the new
company. The committee, which
represents bank lenders and others
owed billions of dollars, must approve
the plan before it is sent to U.S.
bankruptcy court for final
confirmation.
Those creditors -- who will meet with Enron's interim
Chief Executive Stephen Cooper early Friday in New York
-- wield enormous power in shaping the final plan and
can review it for as long as they want before giving it the
green light.
Cooper, the turnaround ace who is managing principal at
restructuring firm Zolfo Cooper LLC, has said previously
he plans to return to create a substantially smaller
company, returning Enron to its origins as a pipeline
operator.
In a mid-April meeting, he told Enron employees that the
backbone of the new company would be natural gas
transmission and that the company also planned to
retain Brazilian (news - web sites) power transmission
business.
Most of the company's noncore businesses will be sold,
according to an employee who was at that meeting.
Under Cooper, Enron has been selling off assets to pay
creditors while developing the restructuring plan. Cooper
was named CEO in late January, six days after the
resignation of Kenneth Lay.
Once the No. 7 U.S. corporation and the biggest seller of
power and natural gas, the new Enron will return to its
roots as an operator of pipelines, power plants, and oil
and gas fields, sources said.
The Wall Street Journal reported in Thursday editions
that Enron was planning to reorganize as a smaller
company and will get a new name -- for now called OpCo
Energy Corp. -- leaving it with assets of about $10 billion.
Enron filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from its
creditors on Dec. 2 following the collapse of the former
energy trading giant over questions about its accounting
and partnerships.
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