LyondellBasell Ready To Leave Bankruptcy

A Manhattan bankruptcy court has given LyondellBasell Industries the go-ahead to emerge from bankruptcy on April 30. The company has issued $3.25 billion in new debt and is conducting a $2.8 billion rights offering whereby the private equity firms Apollo Management, Ares Management, and Access Industries—the company that controlled Lyondell before bankruptcy—will purchase shares. Altogether, Lyondell will emerge with $7.2 billion in consolidated debt and $2.0 billion in cash. When it declared bankruptcy in January 2009, Lyondell had about $24 billion in debt. The company’s 2009 sales were $30.8 billion. The new Lyondell plans a listing on the New York Stock Exchange in the third quarter.