Replies to post #28043 on Pennies from Heaven

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looking to add on pull back probably after exdivy 3/12

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BGCP news Grubb & Ellis Could Liquidate If Sale Plan Isn't Approved
12:11p ET March 5, 2012 (Dow Jones) Grubb & Ellis Could Liquidate If Sale Plan Isn't Approved

By Stephanie Gleason
Of DOW JONES DAILY BANKRUPTCY REVIEW

Grubb & Ellis Co. (GRBE) would likely be forced to liquidate if the bankruptcy court fails to approve its sale plan, which casts BGC Partners Inc. (BGCP) as lead bidder, Grubb & Ellis said Sunday in response to creditors' objections.
"The choice before the court is stark: approve the bidding procedures proposed by the debtors...or delay entry of the proposed order and risk the highly likely liquidation of the debtors in the near term," Grubb & Ellis said in documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.
BGC Partners is offering a $30 million credit bid for Grubb & Ellis's assets, according to a purchase agreement, plus providing up to $15.5 million in bankruptcy financing. BGC Partners' bid would kick off an auction, should another buyer emerge, and the plan provides BGC Partners a $1.1 million breakup fee if it is outbid.
This offer comes after nearly a year of soliciting 50 companies and one failed exclusivity agreement. It is the "sole reason why a going concern sales process is possible," Grubb & Ellis said.
BGC Partners purchased $30 million in debt from Colony Capital Acquisitions LLC, which had been engaged in an exclusivity agreement with Grubb & Ellis for close to a year. That deal expired with no agreement because Colony Capital was "not willing to fund any sale process," according to court documents.
The deal with BGC Partners came together in less than two days, Grubb & Ellis said, and with little time to perform due diligence.
"Simply put, absent BGC's efforts and capital, the debtors would likely have already been forced to liquidate, resulting in the loss of over 3,000 jobs and placing its valued management clients' properties in jeopardy."
Three objections to the sale plan, filed last week, argued that the plan locks in BGC Partners' bid. Because it is a credit bid, which uses debt as currency, it provides unsecured creditors with no recovery. Zazove Associates LLC, the largest unsecured creditor in the case, owed $12.1 million, called instead for "a bona fide and robust sale process."
The committee of unsecured creditors had asked the court to push back the hearing on the sale plan, originally scheduled for last week, especially because a purchase agreement with BGC Partners hadn't yet been made public. The court granted that request and held the hearing Monday. Grubb & Ellis filed the asset-purchase agreement Friday.
The Santa Ana, Calif., commercial real estate and property management company lost a contract worth $40 million in January, forcing it to sell itself or face running out of cash in the first quarter of 2012. It claimed $150 million in assets and $167 million in liabilities in its Feb. 20 bankruptcy filing. The company was recently suspended from the New York Stock Exchange and is awaiting a formal delisting hearing.

(Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review covers news about distressed companies and those under bankruptcy protection.)

-By Stephanie Gleason, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review; 202-862-1347; [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires
03-05-12 1211ET
Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.BT201203050058512012-03-05 17:11:00.0005SEOJSBJARU3LRM53LCN5ITSS8DJNF