A judge has given Aegean Marine Petroleum Network's bankruptcy disclosure statement the go-ahead — after the bunker supplier makes some revisions.
At a hearing on Thursday morning in a New York bankruptcy court, Judge Michael Wiles gave the thumbs up, so long as changes were made to provisions impacting claims in a fraud lawsuit filed by Aegean shareholders targeting founder Dimitris Melissanidis, other officers and the company's auditors.
"After we filed our objection, [Aegean] revised the plan to essentially carve out our claims from the release," said Michael Etkin of Lowenstein Sandler, Utah Retirement Systems, the lead plaintiff in the fraud lawsuit. "In terms of the opt-out, the judge has directed the debtor to change it from an opt-out to an opt-in."
The pension plan is seeking to recover damages from the officers' alleged insider trading and related party dealing. The alleged fraud was disclosed in November, just before Aegean declared bankruptcy, and involved claims that $300m was funneled to shell companies controlled by an "unnamed former affiliate" later identified as Melissanidis.
$200m write-off
Utah Retirement Systems filed suit in June, shortly after the company said it would have to write off $200m in accounts receivable as its new board investigated potential wrongdoing.
They argued in court papers filed Tuesday that Aegean's bankruptcy plan would subordinate their claims to those of the company's unsecured creditors.
In December, Aegean, Swiss commodities trader Mercuria Energy Group and the creditors came to an agreement that saw the creditors receive $40m and proceeds from litigation over the alleged fraud. Utah Retirement Systems and their co-plaintiffs said they would only get paid if the unsecured creditors were awarded more than $272m.
Further, the co-plaintiffs were assumed to approve the plan unless they opt out.
Etkin said the disclosure statement is going forward for now, "but folks have to see the changes."
Aegean still expects to emerge from bankruptcy by the end of the first quarter.
