Bankruptcy blog

August 21, 2008

Alleghany Corp.

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , — admin @ 9:40 pm

Alleghany Corporation was incorporated by the railroad entrepreneurs Oris and Mantis Van Sweringen as a holding company for their interests.

After their bankruptcy in the Great Depression, control of the company fell into the hands of Robert Ralph Young and Allan Price Kirby. Young used the company as a vehicle for his vendetta against the J.P. Morgan banking interests, who had financed the Van Sweringens, and managed to defeat them and the Vanderbilt interests in a 1954 proxy fight for the New York Central Railroad. The failing New York Central was in worse shape than Young had bargained for, and he committed suicide shortly after being forced to suspend the dividend in January 1958. After Young’s death, his role in NYC management was assumed by his protégé Alfred E. Perlman. Although much had been accomplished to streamline NYC operations, in those tough economic times, mergers with other railroads were seen as the only possible road to financial stability. The most likely suitor became the NYC’s former arch-rival Pennsylvania Railroad. During the early 1960s, New York Central negotiated a merger with the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), which was led by Stuart T. Saunders after 1963. Saunders had most recently led the Norfolk and Western Railway through a successful expansion through acquisition and mergers, including the Virginian Railway, Nickel Plate Road and Wabash Railway. There was great hope that success would result from the NYC-PRR combination. Penn Central Transportation Company was formed by the merger on February 1, 1968. However, the underlying financial weakness of both former railroads, combined with the fact that the ICC forced the chronically weak New Haven Railroad into the system, doomed the Penn Central, and bankruptcy was declared shortly a little over 2 years later, on June 21, 1970. Many of the Penn Central railroad assets ended up in Conrail, formed in 1976. The bankruptcy of the Penn Central railroad mostly ended Alleghany’s involvement in the railroad business.

The company’s residual railroad investments led to president and CEO John J. Burns serving on the board of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation from 1995 to 2004.

Today, Alleghany Corporation focuses on the insurance business (property, casualty, surety and fidelity insurance). Allan Kirby’s son, Fred M. Kirby 2nd, is chairman of the board and a sometime member of the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans.

July 22, 2008

Dana Corp.

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , — admin @ 2:20 am

Dana Corporation () is an auto parts and systems company currently being reorganized under Chapter 11 bankruptcy law. Suffering from a slump by General Motors, Ford and other carmakers, Dana declared bankruptcy on March 3, 2006. The company, which has 46,000 workers, is listed on the Fortune 500. Originally incorporated in New Jersey in 1905 as the ‘Spicer Universal Joint Manufacturing Company’, named after Clarence W. Spicer, engineer, inventor, and founder of the company; it was renamed the ‘Spicer Manufacturing Company’ in 1909. It relocated to Toledo, Ohio in 1928 and was renamed the Dana Corporation after Charles Dana, who joined the company in 1914 and became president and treasurer in 1916. Key products include axles, drivetrain products, pickup frames, engine bearings, gaskets, and brake lines. The stock has traded on the New York Stock Exchange since 1922; stock prices were as high as $60 per share in 1998 but fell to about $1 by the time bankruptcy was declared. Dana Corp. was dropped from the S&P 500 index on March 2, 2006. On March 28, 2007, Dana Corporation announced that it has entered into a stock and asset purchase agreement for the sale of Dana’s non-core fluid products hose and tubing business to Orhan Holding, A.S., a Turkish industrial firm and joint-venture partner of Dana. Despite Dana’s recent woes, the company’s CEO managed to grant himself a 9.2 million dollar bonus for himself and associates. Dana continues to close plants in North America, moving business to other countries such as Mexico.


External links

  • Dana Corporation website

July 7, 2008

Jonathan Corp.

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , — admin @ 8:35 am

The Jonathan Corporation was a ship repair company based in Norfolk, Virginia. The company declared bankruptcy and closed its Norfolk shipyard in 1995.


References

  • “Will Shipyards be left High and Dry as the Navy shrinks in size?” from The Virginian-Pilot April 2 2007 (article hosted by the Virginia Ship Repair Association). Retrieved September 6 2007.

January 22, 2008

Alleghany Corp.

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , — admin @ 8:48 am

Alleghany Corporation was incorporated by the railroad entrepreneurs Oris and Mantis Van Sweringen as a holding company for their interests.

After their bankruptcy in the Great Depression, control of the company fell into the hands of Robert Ralph Young and Allan Price Kirby. Young used the company as a vehicle for his vendetta against the J.P. Morgan banking interests, who had financed the Van Sweringens, and managed to defeat them and the Vanderbilt interests in a 1954 proxy fight for the New York Central Railroad. The failing New York Central was in worse shape than Young had bargained for, and he committed suicide shortly after being forced to suspend the dividend in January 1958. After Young’s death, his role in NYC management was assumed by his protégé Alfred E. Perlman. Although much had been accomplished to streamline NYC operations, in those tough economic times, mergers with other railroads were seen as the only possible road to financial stability. The most likely suitor became the NYC’s former arch-rival Pennsylvania Railroad. During the early 1960s, New York Central negotiated a merger with the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), which was led by Stuart T. Saunders after 1963. Saunders had most recently led the Norfolk and Western Railway through a successful expansion through acquisition and mergers, including the Virginian Railway, Nickel Plate Road and Wabash Railway. There was great hope that success would result from the NYC-PRR combination. Penn Central Transportation Company was formed by the merger on February 1, 1968. However, the underlying financial weakness of both former railroads, combined with the fact that the ICC forced the chronically weak New Haven Railroad into the system, doomed the Penn Central, and bankruptcy was declared shortly a little over 2 years later, on June 21, 1970. Many of the Penn Central railroad assets ended up in Conrail, formed in 1976. The bankruptcy of the Penn Central railroad mostly ended Alleghany’s involvement in the railroad business.

The company’s residual railroad investments led to president and CEO John J. Burns serving on the board of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation from 1995 to 2004.

Today, Alleghany Corporation focuses on the insurance business (property, casualty, surety and fidelity insurance). Allan Kirby’s son, Fred M. Kirby 2nd, is chairman of the board and a sometime member of the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans.

January 19, 2008

Alleghany Corp.

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , — admin @ 8:45 am

Alleghany Corporation was incorporated by the railroad entrepreneurs Oris and Mantis Van Sweringen as a holding company for their interests.

After their bankruptcy in the Great Depression, control of the company fell into the hands of Robert Ralph Young and Allan Price Kirby. Young used the company as a vehicle for his vendetta against the J.P. Morgan banking interests, who had financed the Van Sweringens, and managed to defeat them and the Vanderbilt interests in a 1954 proxy fight for the New York Central Railroad. The failing New York Central was in worse shape than Young had bargained for, and he committed suicide shortly after being forced to suspend the dividend in January 1958. After Young’s death, his role in NYC management was assumed by his protégé Alfred E. Perlman. Although much had been accomplished to streamline NYC operations, in those tough economic times, mergers with other railroads were seen as the only possible road to financial stability. The most likely suitor became the NYC’s former arch-rival Pennsylvania Railroad. During the early 1960s, New York Central negotiated a merger with the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), which was led by Stuart T. Saunders after 1963. Saunders had most recently led the Norfolk and Western Railway through a successful expansion through acquisition and mergers, including the Virginian Railway, Nickel Plate Road and Wabash Railway. There was great hope that success would result from the NYC-PRR combination. Penn Central Transportation Company was formed by the merger on February 1, 1968. However, the underlying financial weakness of both former railroads, combined with the fact that the ICC forced the chronically weak New Haven Railroad into the system, doomed the Penn Central, and bankruptcy was declared shortly a little over 2 years later, on June 21, 1970. Many of the Penn Central railroad assets ended up in Conrail, formed in 1976. The bankruptcy of the Penn Central railroad mostly ended Alleghany’s involvement in the railroad business.

The company’s residual railroad investments led to president and CEO John J. Burns serving on the board of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation from 1995 to 2004.

Today, Alleghany Corporation focuses on the insurance business (property, casualty, surety and fidelity insurance). Allan Kirby’s son, Fred M. Kirby 2nd, is chairman of the board and a sometime member of the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans.

December 27, 2007

Jonathan Corp.

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , — admin @ 6:24 pm

The Jonathan Corporation was a ship repair company based in Norfolk, Virginia. The company declared bankruptcy and closed its Norfolk shipyard in 1995.


References

  • “Will Shipyards be left High and Dry as the Navy shrinks in size?” from The Virginian-Pilot April 2 2007 (article hosted by the Virginia Ship Repair Association). Retrieved September 6 2007.

December 23, 2007

Jonathan Corp.

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: — admin @ 6:41 pm

The Jonathan Corporation was a ship repair company based in Norfolk, Virginia. The company declared bankruptcy and closed its Norfolk shipyard in 1995.


References

  • “Will Shipyards be left High and Dry as the Navy shrinks in size?” from The Virginian-Pilot April 2 2007 (article hosted by the Virginia Ship Repair Association). Retrieved September 6 2007.

December 22, 2007

Alleghany Corp.

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , — admin @ 4:55 pm

Alleghany Corporation was incorporated by the railroad entrepreneurs Oris and Mantis Van Sweringen as a holding company for their interests.

After their bankruptcy in the Great Depression, control of the company fell into the hands of Robert Ralph Young and Allan Price Kirby. Young used the company as a vehicle for his vendetta against the J.P. Morgan banking interests, who had financed the Van Sweringens, and managed to defeat them and the Vanderbilt interests in a 1954 proxy fight for the New York Central Railroad. The failing New York Central was in worse shape than Young had bargained for, and he committed suicide shortly after being forced to suspend the dividend in January 1958. After Young’s death, his role in NYC management was assumed by his protégé Alfred E. Perlman. Although much had been accomplished to streamline NYC operations, in those tough economic times, mergers with other railroads were seen as the only possible road to financial stability. The most likely suitor became the NYC’s former arch-rival Pennsylvania Railroad. During the early 1960s, New York Central negotiated a merger with the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), which was led by Stuart T. Saunders after 1963. Saunders had most recently led the Norfolk and Western Railway through a successful expansion through acquisition and mergers, including the Virginian Railway, Nickel Plate Road and Wabash Railway. There was great hope that success would result from the NYC-PRR combination. Penn Central Transportation Company was formed by the merger on February 1, 1968. However, the underlying financial weakness of both former railroads, combined with the fact that the ICC forced the chronically weak New Haven Railroad into the system, doomed the Penn Central, and bankruptcy was declared shortly a little over 2 years later, on June 21, 1970. Many of the Penn Central railroad assets ended up in Conrail, formed in 1976. The bankruptcy of the Penn Central railroad mostly ended Alleghany’s involvement in the railroad business.

The company’s residual railroad investments led to president and CEO John J. Burns serving on the board of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation from 1995 to 2004.

Today, Alleghany Corporation focuses on the insurance business (property, casualty, surety and fidelity insurance). Allan Kirby’s son, Fred M. Kirby 2nd, is chairman of the board and a sometime member of the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans.

December 21, 2007

Jonathan Corp.

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , — admin @ 7:58 am

The Jonathan Corporation was a ship repair company based in Norfolk, Virginia. The company declared bankruptcy and closed its Norfolk shipyard in 1995.


References

  • “Will Shipyards be left High and Dry as the Navy shrinks in size?” from The Virginian-Pilot April 2 2007 (article hosted by the Virginia Ship Repair Association). Retrieved September 6 2007.

December 18, 2007

Alleghany Corp.

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , — admin @ 3:55 am

Alleghany Corporation was incorporated by the railroad entrepreneurs Oris and Mantis Van Sweringen as a holding company for their interests.

After their bankruptcy in the Great Depression, control of the company fell into the hands of Robert Ralph Young and Allan Price Kirby. Young used the company as a vehicle for his vendetta against the J.P. Morgan banking interests, who had financed the Van Sweringens, and managed to defeat them and the Vanderbilt interests in a 1954 proxy fight for the New York Central Railroad. The failing New York Central was in worse shape than Young had bargained for, and he committed suicide shortly after being forced to suspend the dividend in January 1958. After Young’s death, his role in NYC management was assumed by his protégé Alfred E. Perlman. Although much had been accomplished to streamline NYC operations, in those tough economic times, mergers with other railroads were seen as the only possible road to financial stability. The most likely suitor became the NYC’s former arch-rival Pennsylvania Railroad. During the early 1960s, New York Central negotiated a merger with the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), which was led by Stuart T. Saunders after 1963. Saunders had most recently led the Norfolk and Western Railway through a successful expansion through acquisition and mergers, including the Virginian Railway, Nickel Plate Road and Wabash Railway. There was great hope that success would result from the NYC-PRR combination. Penn Central Transportation Company was formed by the merger on February 1, 1968. However, the underlying financial weakness of both former railroads, combined with the fact that the ICC forced the chronically weak New Haven Railroad into the system, doomed the Penn Central, and bankruptcy was declared shortly a little over 2 years later, on June 21, 1970. Many of the Penn Central railroad assets ended up in Conrail, formed in 1976. The bankruptcy of the Penn Central railroad mostly ended Alleghany’s involvement in the railroad business.

The company’s residual railroad investments led to president and CEO John J. Burns serving on the board of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation from 1995 to 2004.

Today, Alleghany Corporation focuses on the insurance business (property, casualty, surety and fidelity insurance). Allan Kirby’s son, Fred M. Kirby 2nd, is chairman of the board and a sometime member of the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans.

December 16, 2007

Jonathan Corp.

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: — admin @ 12:24 pm

The Jonathan Corporation was a ship repair company based in Norfolk, Virginia. The company declared bankruptcy and closed its Norfolk shipyard in 1995.


References

  • “Will Shipyards be left High and Dry as the Navy shrinks in size?” from The Virginian-Pilot April 2 2007 (article hosted by the Virginia Ship Repair Association). Retrieved September 6 2007.

December 13, 2007

Alleghany Corp.

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , — admin @ 11:43 am

Alleghany Corporation was incorporated by the railroad entrepreneurs Oris and Mantis Van Sweringen as a holding company for their interests.

After their bankruptcy in the Great Depression, control of the company fell into the hands of Robert Ralph Young and Allan Price Kirby. Young used the company as a vehicle for his vendetta against the J.P. Morgan banking interests, who had financed the Van Sweringens, and managed to defeat them and the Vanderbilt interests in a 1954 proxy fight for the New York Central Railroad. The failing New York Central was in worse shape than Young had bargained for, and he committed suicide shortly after being forced to suspend the dividend in January 1958. After Young’s death, his role in NYC management was assumed by his protégé Alfred E. Perlman. Although much had been accomplished to streamline NYC operations, in those tough economic times, mergers with other railroads were seen as the only possible road to financial stability. The most likely suitor became the NYC’s former arch-rival Pennsylvania Railroad. During the early 1960s, New York Central negotiated a merger with the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), which was led by Stuart T. Saunders after 1963. Saunders had most recently led the Norfolk and Western Railway through a successful expansion through acquisition and mergers, including the Virginian Railway, Nickel Plate Road and Wabash Railway. There was great hope that success would result from the NYC-PRR combination. Penn Central Transportation Company was formed by the merger on February 1, 1968. However, the underlying financial weakness of both former railroads, combined with the fact that the ICC forced the chronically weak New Haven Railroad into the system, doomed the Penn Central, and bankruptcy was declared shortly a little over 2 years later, on June 21, 1970. Many of the Penn Central railroad assets ended up in Conrail, formed in 1976. The bankruptcy of the Penn Central railroad mostly ended Alleghany’s involvement in the railroad business.

The company’s residual railroad investments led to president and CEO John J. Burns serving on the board of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation from 1995 to 2004.

Today, Alleghany Corporation focuses on the insurance business (property, casualty, surety and fidelity insurance). Allan Kirby’s son, Fred M. Kirby 2nd, is chairman of the board and a sometime member of the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans.

December 3, 2007

Dana Corp.

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , — admin @ 3:08 am

Dana Corporation () is an auto parts and systems company currently being reorganized under Chapter 11 bankruptcy law. Suffering from a slump by General Motors, Ford and other carmakers, Dana declared bankruptcy on March 3, 2006. The company, which has 46,000 workers, is listed on the Fortune 500. Originally incorporated in New Jersey in 1905 as the ‘Spicer Universal Joint Manufacturing Company’, named after Clarence W. Spicer, engineer, inventor, and founder of the company; it was renamed the ‘Spicer Manufacturing Company’ in 1909. It relocated to Toledo, Ohio in 1928 and was renamed the Dana Corporation after Charles Dana, who joined the company in 1914 and became president and treasurer in 1916. Key products include axles, drivetrain products, pickup frames, engine bearings, gaskets, and brake lines. The stock has traded on the New York Stock Exchange since 1922; stock prices were as high as $60 per share in 1998 but fell to about $1 by the time bankruptcy was declared. Dana Corp. was dropped from the S&P 500 index on March 2, 2006. On March 28, 2007, Dana Corporation announced that it has entered into a stock and asset purchase agreement for the sale of Dana’s non-core fluid products hose and tubing business to Orhan Holding, A.S., a Turkish industrial firm and joint-venture partner of Dana. Despite Dana’s recent woes, the company’s CEO managed to grant himself a 9.2 million dollar bonus for himself and associates. Dana continues to close plants in North America, moving business to other countries such as Mexico.


External links

  • Dana Corporation website

June 29, 2007

Dana Corp.

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , — admin @ 10:40 pm

Dana Corporation () is an auto parts and systems company currently being reorganized under Chapter 11 bankruptcy law. Suffering from a slump by General Motors, Ford and other carmakers, Dana declared bankruptcy on March 3, 2006. The company, which has 46,000 workers, is listed on the Fortune 500. Originally incorporated in New Jersey in 1905 as the ‘Spicer Universal Joint Manufacturing Company’, named after Clarence W. Spicer, engineer, inventor, and founder of the company; it was renamed the ‘Spicer Manufacturing Company’ in 1909. It relocated to Toledo, Ohio in 1928 and was renamed the Dana Corporation after Charles Dana, who joined the company in 1914 and became president and treasurer in 1916. Key products include axles, drivetrain products, pickup frames, engine bearings, gaskets, and brake lines. The stock has traded on the New York Stock Exchange since 1922; stock prices were as high as $60 per share in 1998 but fell to about $1 by the time bankruptcy was declared. Dana Corp. was dropped from the S&P 500 index on March 2, 2006. On March 28, 2007, Dana Corporation announced that it has entered into a stock and asset purchase agreement for the sale of Dana’s non-core fluid products hose and tubing business to Orhan Holding, A.S., a Turkish industrial firm and joint-venture partner of Dana. Despite Dana’s recent woes, the company’s CEO managed to grant himself a 9.2 million dollar bonus for himself and associates. Dana continues to close plants in North America, moving business to other countries such as Mexico.


External links

  • Dana Corporation website

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