Daily Archives: September 25, 2019

Tuesday, September 24, 2019 9:15 a.m. CDT

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Indian telecom company Reliance Communications Ltd's (RCom) Chief Executive Officer Bill Barney will step down but remain as head of its U.S. unit, Global Cloud Xchange (GCX), as it goes through bankruptcy proceedings, GCX said on Tuesday.

GCX, an under-sea cable supplier, expects to complete the liquidation process by the end of the fourth quarter.

"With GCX's recent voluntary Chapter 11 filing, it will be in the best interest of both RCOM and GCX for me to step down at this time to focus on GCX restructuring," Barney said in a filing.

Anil Ambani-led RCom filed for bankruptcy in India earlier this year as lack of regulatory approval for asset sales hampered the company's efforts to solve its debt crisis.

(Reporting by Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

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India's RCom CEO steps down to focus on U.S. unit's bankruptcy process - KFGO News

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Mercy College flags heralding "A New Path" have replaced College of New Rochelle flags on CNR's former campus in New Rochelle, Sept. 2, 2019.(Photo: Mark Lungariello/The Journal News)

The College of New Rochelle has filed for bankruptcy and will sell its 15.6-acre former main campus in an auction within two months.

The Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing Friday comes a month after the college ceased academics and held the final graduation in its 115-year history.

A deadline for qualifying bids to take part in the auction will be due some time in early November, with specifics yet to be announced. The campus is being leased through 2020 by Mercy College, which reportedly accepted the transfer of more than 1,700 former College of New Rochelle students.

The bankruptcy is the final chapter of this storied college, Mark Podgainy, the schools interim chief restructuring officer said in a statement.

FUTURE: College trustees 'hopeful' educational use continues after campus is sold

TIMELINE: A look at the collapse of the College of New Rochelle

SENTENCING: Former controller gets 3 years, must pay restitution

CAMPUS: An in-depth look at its future (subscribers only)

Over the course of the last 115 years, CNR has provided more than 87,000 students women and men, both traditional age and adult learners with the opportunity to better their lives through education, he said.

The college decided to dissolve after a long-standing financial crisis that led to the conviction of a high-ranking finance official on federal charges. The area is zoned for educational or single-family residential; other uses would need to be approved through a zoning change by the New Rochelle City Council.

A&G Realty Partners and B6 Real Estate Advisors are marketing the campus for either continued use as an educational facility or redevelopment for other uses including residential. The campus has 20 buildings, with more than 425,000 square feet of space.

There has been tremendous interest in the campus since the announcement CNR was closing, Emilio Amendola, co-founder and co-president of A&G, said in a statement. A turnkey campus such as this, located 15 miles from Manhattan, is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for an educational user. The orderly bankruptcy sale will maximize recovery for all parties involved.

Final bidding procedures and deadlines will be announced once approved by the bankruptcy court, the companies announced.

The college was already facing declining enrollment and difficulty keeping its head above water in October 2016, when it announced the resignation of then-President Judith Huntington alongside the launching of an internal financial probe.

The probe uncovered $31 million in previously unknown debts, including millions in mounting payroll taxes, that had been hidden from the college's financial books and its board of trustees.

Despite recovery efforts that included the sale of some properties and a fundraising initiative, it became clear that digging out of that hole was becoming more and more unlikely.

The college announced earlier this year it would close, with administrators shifting the focus on securing a "teach-out" agreement to offer a path for its 2,700 students to complete their educations elsewhere.

Former Controller Keith Borge, who retired before the announcement of the financial crisis, pleaded guilty in March to charges of securities fraud and failure to pay payroll taxes. He was sentenced on Aug. 28 to three years in federal prison and must pay a $25,000 fine.

In its bankruptcy court filings, the college still listed $17.9 million in tax debts to the IRS and New York State, as well as $100,000 to the city of New Rochelle. It also owes $30 million to the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York and $13 million to the New Rochelle Industrial Development Agency, which issued bonds for construction projects on campus.

The college listed outstanding loans to Key Bank and The Carney Family Charitable Foundation of $2.4 million and $2 million, respectively. In total, there were $72 million in assets listed as of Aug. 28 but liabilities exceeding $82 million.

The bankruptcy filing listed between 1,000 and 5,000 possible creditors. Some of the largest included landlords for spaces in New York City, totaling more than $900,000 to four different companies. Some $3 million was listed as owed to the Industry and Local 338 Pension and Welfare.

The college has as many as 32 people still on staff during the wind-down process, the filing showed. The interim restructuring officer asked the court to allow for authorization for some spending, including $150,000 to Marist College, which operates the closing schools computer system.

Follow Mark Lungariello on Facebook: @lungariello; and Twitter: @marklungariello.

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College of New Rochelle files for bankruptcy, campus to be sold at auction - The Journal News / Lohud.com

Members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) who are employed at the General Motors Co. Flint Assembly plant in Flint, Michigan, picket outside of the plant as they strike on September 16, 2019. - The United Auto Workers union began a nationwide strike

A decade ago, the United Auto Workers were forced to negotiate a new labor contract that more or less accomplished what Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) demanded as a concession for his support of a government bailout. Without reversing the practices forced upon automakers in contract negotiations since the 1980s, Corker understood that a bailout would be meaningless, leaving the Detroit 3 vulnerable to the next recession or economic crisis. The UAW fared better under the 363 bankruptcy than it would in Chapter 7 or 11, but it had to acquiesce to demands that restored labor to a variable cost and removed the gold-plated health care obligations that retirees enjoyed off the balance sheet. Work rules and job classifications were streamlined at the factory level, and the onerous and ridiculous Jobs Bank paid laid-off workers more than 90 percent of their normal wages while doing nothing.

I have always held these companys managements responsible for putting short-term objectives ahead of facing down the Union and its ever-greater demands that brought the domestic automakers to this crisis. The tool the Union used is the same as we see today select a target and threaten to strike while allowing domestic rivals to capture market share during the shut-down period. Detroits myopia was so ingrained that it failed to understand the financial consequences of what the target company agreed to. The target auto company executives often misguidedly saw it as an opportunity to negotiate favorable terms for itself while punishing domestic rivals. That shortsighted behavior usually included the assumption that in due course the transplant factories in the south would be unionized, which, of course, has not happened, nor will it. Todays strike only reinforces to the transplant workers that they are protected by working for financially strong companies and not by a contract.

At the end of one negotiation, I sipped wine past midnight in Hyatt Regency Dearborns bar while commiserating with Don Ephlin, then the head of the GM branch of the UAW. The negotiations were done, and Don, his assistant and I talked about the impact of the contract terms GM agreed to. Don understood more than other UAW leaders that the Union was doing itself and its members long-term harm. He asked me how I thought Roger Smith, the CEO of GM at the time, would present the contract to investors the next day, and I replied, Like he has in the past. Hell say that the additional cost will be spread over the volume as GM gains share, and hell skirt the issue that national and local contracts aimed at creating jobs will add fixed costs to already-struggling companies. Don probably understood the threat that the U.S. auto industry was under better than some of the executives in the auto companies. He participated with me and representatives of all major international auto companies in MITs decade-long study of manufacturing practices, which revealed Japans competitive advantage. Don understood that the only way the UAW would grow was by representing workers in financially strong companies, something UAW leadership in the 1990s and 2000s (until the bankruptcy) never learned.

The current contract talks are trying to claw back what was given up in the 2009 bankruptcy negotiations. Now that GM is financially sound, the Union wants to protect jobs by converting temporary workers into permanent ones. They want cost of living raises, forgetting that GM paid the average worker a $14,000 profit sharing bonus last year. The Union wants the Lordstown, Ohio plant reopened; a path to give temporary workers full-time status; and wants to eliminate two-tier compensation for new hires, no doubt raising all salaries to the wages and benefits of legacy workers. No doubt, when local contracts are negotiated, there will be demands for more Union representatives in the factories paid by the companies and restored work rules that reduce productivity and increase costs. All the while, the UAW sees more members. The once 700,000-member Union now has fewer than half that number.

I give Mary Barra high marks for announcing the closure of eight plants, including three assembly plants last November, since the company was able to take logical restructuring actions without the impediment of potential job protection claw backs in a new contract. GM made the final (hopefully) move to right size its assembly footprint and production cost structure.

GMs current leadership has been responding to the unprecedented uncertainties surrounding the future of the auto industry. While I highly doubt that we will see autonomous electric vehicles in fleets or my garage for many years, competition in the global auto industry has never been more intense. The Chinese auto industry is ascending, having learned much from the technology transferred by foreign automakers partnered with major Chinese players. Global supply chains are under threat, and costs associated with tech-heavy vehicles have raised the price to consumers, pushing new cars outside their budgets. Mergers and collaboration among automakers has never been more intense and is also reshaping competition. The UAW should understand that if it returns to its past practices, it will put the Detroit 3 on the path toward lower profitability and risk becoming unable to field a competitive product portfolio. Chrysler continues to search for a partner, and Ford bonds are now rated Ba1 (junk) after five of the best years the industry has seen in a long time.

Lest I be seen as anti-union in my comments, my father was a Union member his entire working life and a Union leader in his factory, and my sister was a unionized teacher for more than 30 years, I understand the importance of representation that levels the playing field between the institution and the individual. But I also understand that it's the Union, akin to fate, which plays a key role for each job, factory and as a whole. Putting short-term objectives at the forefront without understanding the environment in which institutions operate got us where we are today.

Originally posted here:

The UAW Didnt Learn From General Motors Bankruptcy - Forbes

Hundreds of travelers have been stranded at the Cancn airport after the collapse of the British travel agency Thomas Cook.

No other country in Europe sends more tourists to Mexicos Caribbean coast than the United Kingdom, and it is only surpassed worldwide by the United States and Canada, according to figures from the Secretariat of Tourism.

And Thomas Cook sent the majority of those tourists, said Daro Flota, director of Quintana Roos tourism promotion board.

The impact is going to be very powerful, and it will take some time to recover, he said in an interview on Radio Frmula.

In addition to stranded travelers, Flota said the bankruptcy will also leave large amounts of debt in the area and cost many tourism sector jobs.

Cancns airport was crowded with over 300 desperate tourists trying to make their way home after the companys airline canceled its two scheduled flights for Monday, one to London and the other to Manchester.

The British Embassy in Mexico City sent staff to Cancn to help rebook travelers on a different flight to Manchester, but even they werent happy with the situation.

We were supposed to fly to London, but now were going to Manchester, so Im going to miss my connecting flight to Ireland, a redirected traveler named Jordan told the news agency AFP.

Thats what they told us in the hotel, but I have no idea. At least I didnt have to pay anything.

Another traveler named Matt said he couldnt believe what was happening.

We need to get home. Its a big travel company. Theyre everywhere, he said, though he still could see the bright side.

But at least we had a holiday. Some people wont.

Among the desperate, stranded travelers were families with tired children, students worried about missing classes and employees concerned with getting back to work.

In 2018, the U.K. sent 590,000 tourists to Mexico, and 77% of those visited Cancn, according to the Secretariat of Tourism.

Sources: Yahoo! News (en), Animal Poltico (sp)

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Thomas Cook bankruptcy strands travelers in Mexico - Mexico News Daily