Enron today filed its plan to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy by packaging its international and pipeline assets as separate companies.
US Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez in New York must approve the plan, which includes several previously announced components such as the spinoffs of its pipeline and international assets.
The company's creditors are owed about $67 billion. According to the reorganization plan, the majority of them will receive between 14.4 cents and 18.3 cents on the dollar.
Enron has no recovery estimate yet, according to a company spokesman. "That will be based on our view of the asset value and of the claims that we're seeing," he said. "A total recovery pool number will probably be filed in a subsequent amendment sometime in August."
The estimated recoveries range from 100 per cent for certain claims to nothing for common stock shareholders. There are more than 350 classes of creditors.
On June 27th, Enron said it reached a tentative agreement with its creditors on a reorganization plan and asked the court for a short delay to file its long-delayed blueprint for rebirth.
Mr Gonzalez will now hold a hearing on the company's disclosure statement to determine whether creditors have enough information to make an informed decision, according to the Enron spokesman.
The plan also needs the approval of 50 per cent of the creditors and holders of two-thirds of the dollar amount.
There will probably be a confirmation hearing in the fall, with Enron hoping for confirmation by the end of this year, the spokesman said.
Enron in December 2001 made what was then the largest US bankruptcy filing in history, collapsing under the weight of an unprecedented financial accounting scandal.
At the time, Enron took the bankruptcy crown with a record $63.3 billion in assets, according to research web site BankruptcyData.com.