USG Corp Receives Court Approval -- MesoLink.org -- 06-20-06

The USG Corporation has received approval from the courts in relation to a plan to enable the company to emerge from bankruptcy through a payment plan to settle asbestos liability claims against the company. The maker of gypsum wallboard could be paying nearly four billion dollars to settle the liability claims against it.

There are about a quarter of a million claims to be dealt with, and part of the funding will come from the sale of nearly two billion dollars worth of shares. A research director for investment bank Matrix USA stated: “This is all behind them now.”

The company originally filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2001 in Delaware, and at that time listed over two and half billions dollars worth of debts. The company was under fire with many lawsuits piling up against it. USG used asbestos in many of its products between 1930 and 1972.

According to a lawyer for the company, no opposition has been made to the reorganization plan, and it could be just a matter of weeks before the company emerges from bankruptcy