Tronox Inc. (TROX)

[joelegs]

Dow Jones' Daily Bankruptcy Review newsletter:


Meanwhile, Tronox Inc. (TRXAQ, TRXBQ) is to auction its assets Tuesday, even though the chemical company hasn't yet decided if a sale is its best way out of bankruptcy. Huntsman Corp. (HUN) is set to serve as the lead bidder at the auction with an offer worth $415 million. Earlier this week, the company said it expected to receive "multiple viable bids" ahead of the Dec. 1 deadline for initial bids ahead of next week's auction. Tronox, however, says it might still choose to abandon the sale process and pursue a standalone reorganization. The Oklahoma City company recently told the New York bankruptcy court that it needs additional time to weigh both options, and asked to keep exclusive control over its Chapter 11 case for another 90 days. Tronox produces titanium dioxide, a whitening pigment. The company had filed for Chapter 11 protection in January. Tronox was created in March 2006 when it was spun off from Kerr-McGee Corp., which was later acquired by Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC). It took on a host of environmental liabilities in the deal. In May, Tronox filed a lawsuit over the spinoff, claiming that the massive environmental liabilities set it on a path to an "inevitable bankruptcy." The bankruptcy court is slated to review the auction results at a Thursday hearing.


(This item appears in Dow Jones' Daily Bankruptcy Review newsletter.) -By Marie Beaudette, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-1354 (END) Dow Jones NewswiresDecember 04, 2009 13:28 ET (18:28 GMT)Copyright © 2009 MarketWatch, Inc. All rights reserved. Please see our Terms of Use.
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