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Bankruptcy Court OKs Last Of $82M Just For Feet Settlements
Friday 03/30/2007 3:55 PM ET - Dow Jones News
By Peg Brickley Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
A Pittsburgh bankruptcy judge signed off on the last $1.5 million settlement in a series of deals that raised $82 million from former executives and advisors sued over the collapse of shoe retailer Just for Feet Inc.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Judith Fitzgerald on Thursday approved the $1.5 million pact with former Just for Feet director Randall Haines, the last of 16 defendants to agree to pay to quiet charges of wrongdoing.
Court papers identify Haines as president of Compass Bank-Birmingham, one of the primary lenders to Just for Feet, which ran into trouble after piling up $400 million in debt after a late-1990's acquisition spree.
Just for Feet filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware in November 1999, and a few months later sold its 79 superstores and 23 specialty stores to Footstar Inc. (FTAR) for $69.7 million.
Charles Goldstein, the Chapter 7 trustee charged with finding money to pay creditors of the failed shoe seller, sued Haines, as well as officers and other directors of Just for Feet, and the company's former auditors, Deloitte & Touche LLP.
In a previous deal, Deloitte & Touche agreed to pay $24 million to settle allegations it failed to audit financial statements properly.
About $56 million in settlements came from Just for Feet's leaders, including directors accused of waiting too long to file for Chapter 11 protection.
Goldstein sued the Birmingham, Ala.-based company's leaders in an Alabama court.
-By Peg Brickley, Dow Jones Newswires; 302-521-2266; peg.brickley@dowjones.com
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03-30-07 1554ET
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