Vitro Order Blocking Bondholders Extended by Court

Vitro SAB (VITROA) bondholders are blocked from seizing assets of the Mexican glassmaker after a federal appeals court extended a lower-court order during an appeal over the company’s bankruptcy restructuring.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans today temporarily extended a stay that a bankruptcy judge in Dallas imposed earlier this month when he refused to enforce Vitro’s Mexican reorganization plan in the U.S.

The appellate court granted a direct appeal of the ruling by the bankruptcy judge and told the bondholders to submit papers by July 2 opposing an extension of the stay halting asset seizures. The bankruptcy court’s restraining order was set to expire tomorrow.

The appeals court said the temporary stay it imposed will remain in effect “pending further order of this court,” according to a court filing.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Harlin DeWayne Hale in Dallas refused to enforce Vitro’s reorganization in the U.S., saying it is “manifestly contrary” to U.S. public policy

The case is Vitro SAB v. Ad Hoc Group of Vitro Noteholders, 12-10689, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (New Orleans).

To contact the reporters on this story: David McLaughlin in New York at dmclaughlin9@bloomberg.net; Bill Rochelle in New York at wrochelle@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Pickering at jpickering@bloomberg.net