Almatis' Senior Lenders Vote To Support Its Prepackaged Plan of Reorganisation

FRANKFURT, May 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Almatis is pleased to announce that, at the end of the period for the solicitation of votes, it has been informed by the balloting and claims agent, Epiq Bankruptcy Solutions, LLC that 77.4% of voting holders of its senior first lien debt ("Senior Lenders") by amount and 58.1% by number have voted to accept its prepackaged Plan of Reorganisation (the "Plan"). The Plan has therefore received in excess of the level of support required for acceptance of the Plan by Senior Lenders; accepting Senior Lenders included the members of the coordination committee of the Senior Lenders and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P.  A combined hearing to approve the disclosure statement and confirm the Plan has been set for July 19, 2010.

About Chapter 11

Chapter 11 provides a recognised and practical legal framework to reorganise over-indebted businesses subject to supervision by the US Bankruptcy Court. The effect of a Chapter 11 filing is to provide a Company with protection from its creditors while it develops and implements a plan to reorganize its debt and, if necessary, its operations. Chapter 11 allows the Company to continue to operate and maintain its business, under the control of the Company's current management ("in the ordinary course") during the restructuring process. This includes, among other things, servicing its customers, receiving supplies and paying wages and salaries to its employees. The process is therefore regularly used by fundamentally sound operating companies to protect enterprise value as they reorganise their debt in an orderly process. Almatis has chosen Chapter 11 as the preferred legal tool for implementing its balance sheet restructuring following extensive evaluation of available alternatives.

About Almatis

Almatis is a global leader in the development, manufacture and supply of premium specialty alumina products. With nearly 900 employees worldwide, the company's products are used in a wide variety of industries, including steel production, cement production, non-ferrous metal production, plastics, paper, ceramics, carpet manufacturing and electronic industries. Almatis operates nine production facilities worldwide and serves customers around the world. Until 2004, the business was known as the chemical business of Alcoa.

SOURCE Almatis