T R O U B L E D C O M P A N Y R E P O R T E R E U R O P E Friday, April 11, 2008, Vol. 9, No. 72 Headlines A U S T R I A C. & C. TSCHERNER: Claims Registration Period Ends May 2 D & D MITROVIC: Claims Registration Period Ends May 5 EMMY LOESCHL: Claims Registration Period Ends May 5 FLORIAN HAGER: Claims Registration Period Ends April 22 INTENTION TRADING: Claims Registration Period Ends May 19 KMH ARTMANN: Claims Registration Period Ends May 14 MIssION HANDEL: Claims Registration Period Ends May 5 QUBUS CONSULTING: Claims Registration Period Ends April 22 WERBEAGENTUR PROPAGANDERS: Claims Registration Ends April 18 F R A N C E THOMSON SA: Francois de Carbonnel Appointed as Board Chairman THOMSON SA: Obtains Two Multi-Million Euro Contracts in KSA THOMSON SA: S&P Puts Recovery Ratings on Unsecured Debt Issues G E R M A N Y ABELE GMBH: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 AUTOLAND DELITZSCH: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 BACKSHOP FICHTNER: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 BAU-AS GMBH: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 CARD & CO: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 CLINIC MEDIZINTECHNIK: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 CMR TRANS: Creditors' Meeting Slated for May 27 D.V JALES: Claims Registration Period Ends May 2 ERNST VESTERLING: Claims Registration Period Ens April 30 ESCADA AG: Lowers Expectations for Fiscal Year 2007/2008 ESCADA AG: Apax Partners Discontinues Planned Equity Investment ESCADA AG: Moody's Review 'B1' Ratings and May Downgrade ESCADA AG: S&P Lowers Long-Term Corporate Credit Rating to B+ ESCADA AG: Ordinary General Meeting Scheduled on April 17 EUROPEGAS GMBH: Creditors' Meeting Slated for May 5 G. REIBOLD GMBH: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 GASTRO-SERVICE-ROTH GMBH: Claims Registration Ends April 29 GLAS-UND GEBAUDEREINIGUNG: Claims Registration Ends April 30 HG BAUGESELLSCHAFT: Creditors Must File Claims by April 25 HOLZHANDEL-SUED GMBH: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 HUGO GOERNER: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 ISYS MARKETING: Creditors' Meeting Slated for April 16 J & M MALERFACHBETRIEB: Creditors Must File Claims by April 25 KA-UF SERVICE: Claims Registration Ends April 30 KIDS IN STYLE: Claims Registration Period Ends May 2 KM SPIELOTHEK: Claims Registration Ends April 30 LA BELLA: Claims Registration Ends April 30 LANSMANN & SCHULTEN: Creditors Must File Claims by April 25 LOGO MAssIVBAU: Claims Registration Ends April 30 LTG INTERCARGO: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 LTG LACHMANN: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 MARTIN HOPSTER: Claims Registration Ends April 30 MAYER CONSULT: Claims Registration Ends April 30 METALLBEABEITUNG KREKER: Claims Registration Ends April 30 METZGEREI KOEHLER: Creditors Must File Claims by April 25 MICHAEL BOB: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 MTS MASCHINENBAUTEAM: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 POLYEX GMBH: Creditors Must File Claims by April 25 WERNER KLAPPLADEN: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 I T A L Y ALITALIA SPA: Sets April 15 Meeting with Unions PARMALAT SPA: Shareholders Elect Directors' & Auditors' Board PARMALAT SPA: Board Names Bondi as CEO, Picella as Chairman PARMALAT SPA: To Pay EUR0.159 Dividend per Share by April 24 PARMALAT SPA: Extraordinary Shareholders' Meeting Set May 30 K A Z A K H S T A N CITY-STROY K LLP: Creditors Must File Claims by May 14 GALS LLP: Claims Deadline Slated for May 7 LEONIS INCORPOPATION LLC: Claims Filing Period Ends May 9 PODRYAD-STROITELSTVO LLP: Creditors' Claims Due on May 9 SHRAPS LLP: Claims Registration Ends May 7 K Y R G Y Z S T A N TOURISM SERVICE LLC: Creditors Must File Claims by May 20 N O R W A Y * Building Firms Filing for Bankruptcy in Norway Up 30% R O M A N I A * Romanian Bankruptcies Up 35% in 2007 R U S S I A BASH-ATOM OJSC: Court Starts Bankruptcy Supervision Procedure CHUDOVSKAYA BREAD 64: Novgorod Bankruptcy Hearing Set May 29 NIIPKP SIB-PROJECT: Creditors Must File Claims by May 15 NOVATEK OAO: Hikes Total Reserves by 200 Million Boe in 2007 NOVOSIBIRSKIY TIMBER: Creditors Must File Claims by May 15 OXYGEN-GAS-SERVICE: Court Starts Bankruptcy Supervision Process ROSNEFT OIL: Reviewing Options to Refinance Debt due September UNITY RE: Moody's Puts Insurance Financial Strength Rating at B1 ZYATKOVSKOE CJSC: Creditors Must File Claims by May 15 S P A I N AYT COLATERALES: Moody's Puts Ba2 Rating on Series D Notes * Moody's Says Spanish RMBS Delinquencies Up in Q4 2007 U K R A I N E BRASKA LLC: Proofs of Claim Deadline Set April 17 EUROHOUSE LLC: Proofs of Claim Deadline Set April 14 FORCE LTD: Creditors Must File Claims by April 17 KDS LLC: Proofs of Claim Deadline Set April 14 KRASNY LUCH MOTOECAR: Creditors Must File Claims by April 14 TECHNO-RESOURCE LLC: Creditors Must File Claims by April 14 VENDERS LLC: Proofs of Claim Deadline Set April 17 ZARD LLC: Creditors Must File Claims by April 14 U N I T E D K I N G D O M ALERIS INTERNATIONAL: Shuts Down Shelbyville, Tennessee Facility ALERIS INTERNATIONAL: Taps Roeland Baan to Head European Unit ANSELL JONES: Brings In Liquidators from Mazars BRAIN ED: Calls In Liquidators from BDO Stoy Hayward BRITISH ENERGY: March 2008 Nuclear Output Ahead of Expectations CARLYLE CAPITAL: Fund Manager Raised GBP679 Mln to Form New Fund CEDO PLC: Eight Series 2 Notes' Ratings Under Moody's Review CEDO PLC: Moody's Puts Series 3 Notes' Ratings under Review CEDO PLC: Moody's Reviews Ratings on 13 Series 4 Note Classes CLARKSON KNITTING: Taps Liquidators from PricewaterhouseCoopers CTN RETAIL: High Court to Hear Winding-Up Petition on May 28 CTN SECURITY: High Court to Hear Winding-Up Petition on May 28 DANKA BUSINESS: Selling DOIC Unit to Konica for USUS$240 Million DATA JOBS: Manchester High Court Winds Up Business DIRECTED ELECTRONICS: Inks Amendment to Credit Agreement DIRECTED ELECTRONICS: S&P Affirms B Corporate Credit Rating DIRECTED ELECTRONICS: Moody's Affirms Ratings DISCOUNT BED: Claims Filing Period Ends July 31 EDELWEISS CAPITAL: Ratings on 2007-1 Notes under Moody's Review EDELWEISS CAPITAL: Moody's Reviews Ratings on 2 S. 2007-2 Notes EIRLES TWO: Moody's Slashes Ratings on Three Notes Series HEATING FINANCE: Moody's Junks Corporate Family Rating NEWLAY EGG: Hires Liquidators from Tenon Recovery NIM ENGINEERING: Appoints Liquidators from Mazars NO FRILLS: Calls In Liquidators from Tenon Recovery PEOPLE OF SOUP: Taps Liquidators from Tenon Recovery REGENCY TRADE: Brings In Liquidators from Tenon Recovery * Bank of England Cuts Base Interest Rate to 5% BOOK REVIEW: Investing in Junk Bonds: Inside the High Yield Debt Market ********* ============= A U S T R I A ============= C. & C. TSCHERNER: Claims Registration Period Ends May 2 -------------------------------------------------------- Creditors owed money by LLC C. & C. Tscherner Handel (FN 82132h) have until May 2, 2008, to file written proofs of claim to court-appointed estate administrator Gerhard Bauer at: Mag. Gerhard Bauer Mahlerstrasse 7 1010 Vienna Austria Tel: 512 97 06 Fax: 512 97 06 20 E-mail: ra-g.bauer@aon.at Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the creditors' meeting at 10:45 a.m. on May 16, 2008, for the examination of claims. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The Trade Court of Vienna Room 1607 Vienna Austria Headquartered in Vienna, Austria, the Debtor declared bankruptcy on March 14, 2008 (Bankr. Case No. 28 S 45/08h). D & D MITROVIC: Claims Registration Period Ends May 5 ----------------------------------------------------- Creditors owed money by KG D & D MITROVIC (FN 288082a) have until May 5, 2008, to file written proofs of claim to court- appointed estate administrator Eberhard Wallentin at: Dr. Eberhard Wallentin Porzellangasse 4-6 1090 Vienna Austria Tel: 313 74-0 Fax: 313 74-80 E-mail: office@ksw.at Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the creditors' meeting at 10:15 a.m. on May 19, 2008, for the examination of claims. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The Trade Court of Vienna Room 1705 Vienna Austria Headquartered in Vienna, Austria, the Debtor declared bankruptcy on March 14, 2008 (Bankr. Case No. 3 S 25/08h). EMMY LOESCHL: Claims Registration Period Ends May 5 --------------------------------------------------- Creditors owed money by LLC Emmy Loeschl & Friedrich Loeschl (FN 113011v) have until May 5, 2008, to file written proofs of claim to court-appointed estate administrator Michael Lesigang at: Dr. Michael Lesigang Landstrasser Hauptstrasse 14-16/8 1030 Vienna Austria Tel: 715 25 26 Fax: 715 25 26-27 E-mail: michael@lesigang.at Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the creditors' meeting at 9:45 a.m. on May 19 for the examination of claims. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The Trade Court of Vienna Room 1705 Vienna Austria Headquartered in Vienna, Austria, the Debtor declared bankruptcy on March 14, 2008 (Bankr. Case No. 3 S 23/08i). FLORIAN HAGER: Claims Registration Period Ends April 22 ------------------------------------------------------- Creditors owed money by LLC Florian Hager (FN 83098d) have until April 22, 2008, to file written proofs of claim to court- appointed estate administrator Hans Pucher at: Dr. Hans Pucher Wiener Strasse 3 3100 St. Poelten Austria Tel: 02742/35 43 55 Fax: 02742/35 14 35 E-mail: office@gpls.at Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the creditors' meeting at 10:50 a.m. on May 13, 2008, for the examination of claims. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The Land Court of St. Poelten Room 216 Second Floor Old Building St. Poelten Austria Headquartered in Bischofstetten, Austria, the Debtor declared bankruptcy on March 14, 2008 (Bankr. Case No. 14 S 36/08x). INTENTION TRADING: Claims Registration Period Ends May 19 --------------------------------------------------------- Creditors owed money by LLC Intention Trading (FN 272537s) have until May 19, 2008, to file written proofs of claim to court- appointed estate administrator Roland Muehlschuster at: Dr. Roland Muehlschuster Spitalhof 3 A 4600 Wels Austria Tel: 07242/206242-0 Fax: 07242/206242-38 E-mail: kanzlei@anwaltsservice.at Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the creditors' meeting at 10:40 a.m. on May 29, 2008, for the examination of claims. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The Land Court of Wels Hall 101 First Floor Maria Theresia Str. 12 Wels Austria Headquartered in Wels, Austria, the Debtor declared bankruptcy on March 14, 2008 (Bankr. Case No. 20 S 32/08v). KMH ARTMANN: Claims Registration Period Ends May 14 --------------------------------------------------- Creditors owed money by LLC KMH Artmann (FN 206199i) have until May 14, 2008, to file written proofs of claim to court-appointed estate administrator Gerwald Holper at: Mag. Gerwald Holper Technologiezentrum Marktstrasse 3 7000 Eisenstadt Austria Tel: 02682/704 266-0 Fax: 02682/704 266-15 E-mail: eisenstadt@kosch-partner.at Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the creditors' meeting at 10:30 a.m. on April 28, 2008, for the examination of claims. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The Land Court of Eisenstadt Hall F Eisenstadt Austria Headquartered in Wiesen am Rosaliengebirge, Austria, the Debtor declared bankruptcy on March 14, 2008 (Bankr. Case No. 26 S 28/08g). MIssION HANDEL: Claims Registration Period Ends May 5 ----------------------------------------------------- Creditors owed money by LLC Mission Handel u. Bau (FN 280355m) have until May 5, 2008, to file written proofs of claim to court-appointed estate administrator Daniel Lampersberger at: Mag. Daniel Lampersberger c/o Mag. Clemens Richter Esteplatz 4 1030 Vienna Austria Tel: 712 33 30-0 Fax: 712 33 30-30 E-mail: kanzlei@engelhart.at Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the creditors' meeting at 10:00 a.m. on May 19, 2008, for the examination of claims. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The Trade Court of Vienna Room 1705 Vienna Austria Headquartered in Vienna, Austria, the Debtor declared bankruptcy on March 14, 2008 (Bankr. Case No. 3 S 24/08m). Clemens Richter represents Mag. Lampersberger in the bankruptcy proceedings. QUBUS CONSULTING: Claims Registration Period Ends April 22 ---------------------------------------------------------- Creditors owed money by JSC Qubus Consulting & Management (FN 161553d) have until April 22, 2008, to file written proofs of claim to court-appointed estate administrator Johannes Jaksch at: Dr. Johannes Jaksch c/o Dr. Stephan Riel Landstrasser Hauptstrasse 1/2 1030 Vienna Austria Tel: 713 44 33 Fax: 713 10 33 E-mail: kanzlei@jsr.at Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the creditors' meeting at 11:45 a.m. on May 6, 2008, for the examination of claims. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The Trade Court of Vienna Room 1701 Vienna Austria Headquartered in Vienna, Austria, the Debtor declared bankruptcy on March 14, 2008 (Bankr. Case No. 6 S 40/08m). Stephan Riel represents Dr. Jaksch in the bankruptcy proceedings. WERBEAGENTUR PROPAGANDERS: Claims Registration Ends April 18 ------------------------------------------------------------ Creditors owed money by KEG Werbeagentur Propaganders Fetz (FN 188328d) have until April 18, 2008, to file written proofs of claim to court-appointed estate administrator Erwin Fidler at: Dr. Erwin Fidler Schildbach 111 8230 Hartberg Austria Tel: 03332/6005300 Fax: 03332/6005350 E-mail: advocare@fidler.at Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the creditors' meeting at 11:40 a.m. on April 24, 2008, for the examination of claims. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The Land Court of Graz Room 222 Second Floor Graz Austria Headquartered in Hartberg, Austria, the Debtor declared bankruptcy on March 13, 2008 (Bankr. Case No. 26 S 34/08g). =========== F R A N C E =========== THOMSON SA: Francois de Carbonnel Appointed as Board Chairman ------------------------------------------------------------- The Board of Directors of Thomson S.A. Met Wednesday and unanimously appointed Francois de Carbonnel as Chairman of the Board of Directors. There is no change to Julian Waldron's role as interim CEO and CFO. Francois de Carbonnel joined the Board of Thomson on April 2007 and is currently head of the Group's Audit Committee. Commenting on his appointment, Francois de Carbonnel said "As non-executive Chairman, my priority for the coming months is to ensure the Group maintains momentum. Thomson has tremendous assets and talented people and a motivated senior executive team led by Julian Waldron in which the Board has absolute confidence. I look forward to taking on this role and working with the Board as a whole to enhance value for all Thomson shareholders. The Board will now review the senior executive team's assessment of our current situation and outlook. Our financial and operational priorities will be communicated with our Q1 sales on the 16th April." Formerly President of GE Capital and Citigroup, Mr. de Carbonnel is a consultant/corporate finance advisor in Europe and in the USA. He is on the board of Pages Jaunes S.A. and of Quilvest S.A. Managing director of Citigroup from 1999 to 2004, Francois de Carbonnel has been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MIDIAL, from 1994 to 1998. He has been also Chairman of General Electric Capital SNC, the Holding Company for SOVAC and Credit de l'Est, and a subsidiary of GE Capital Inc.,President of GE Capital-Europe, and of the consulting company SPA (Strategic Planning Associates, Inc.), he was also vice- president of the Boston Consulting Group. He received a Master of Sciences Degree in Industrial Administration from Carnegie-Mellon University in the USA (1972). He also received a Master in Economics from the Lyon Universite (1970) and an Engineering Diploma from the Ecole Centrale de Lyon (1970). He is a �Chevalier de la Legion d�Honneur�. About Thomson Thomson SA -- http://www.thomson.net/-- (Euronext Paris: 18453; NYSE: TMS) provides technology, services, and systems to help its Media, Entertainment & Communications clients - content creators, content distributors and users of its technology - realize their business goals and optimize their performance in a rapidly changing technology environment. THOMSON SA: Obtains Two Multi-Million Euro Contracts in KSA ----------------------------------------------------------- Thomson S.A. has won two multi-million euro contracts with the Ministry of Culture and Information in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. One is for the continuing rollout of digital television transmitters across the nation; the second is for the creation of a digital archive of film, radio and television for the state broadcaster. �We are pleased and honored to receive these two very different orders from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,� said Patrick Montliaud, Vice president of Thomson Integration and Network Solutions, within the Systems division. �Together with our local partner company, Stesa - and with specialist alliances such as the help provided to us by INA on the archive structure � Thomson has the resources and expertise in depth to deliver solutions that meet the exacting requirements of the Ministry of Culture and Information.� Rollout of digital television transmitters Saudi Arabia was the first Arab country to broadcast digital terrestrial television, with a demonstration service in Riyadh in 2003. For the first phase � started in 2006 - of the national roll-out of digital broadcasting, Thomson with its local partner Stesa installed 22 high power DVB-T transmitters to provide coverage in the major cities of the Kingdom. The contract for phase two which has now been awarded to Thomson and Stesa adds a further 34 transmitters (Elite 1000) to reach into the rest of the nation. Each transmitter site includes a complete digital headend based on Thomson ViBE encoders and NetProcessor(TM) multiplex processing, allowing local access to the interactive facilities available through digital terrestrial television. When complete, this will bring the five digital terrestrial channels to more than 90% of the Kingdom�s population. Thomson and Stesa will manage together, on Thomson�s behalf, the installation at each site, including all necessary power connections, construction, cooling and antennas, as well as installing the headends and transmitters. The complete transmission network will be monitored and controlled from a central station in Riyadh, using the Thomson XMS control solution. For the archive project, Thomson and Stesa will be working with INA, the French national library of radio and television archives, to develop a comprehensive solution to preserve the archives of Saudi Radio and Television. This includes more than 750,000 reels of 16mm and 35mm film as well as vast numbers of audio and video tape recordings. The project includes the construction of a specialized building to house the archive as well as the restoration and cataloguing of the material. In the frame of this project, Thomson will deploy its new Media Asset Management solution, called ContentShare2, to automatize, through the Thomson Grass Valley K2� media servers, the ingest workflow. It will also integrate an asset management to hold the new catalogue and provide links to the permanent storage and archive libraries. INA will support the 140 Saudi archivists who will be working on the project. These two major orders from MOCI in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia clearly demonstrate the breadth of this offering, and Thomson�s ability to respond to complex demands quickly. The order for phase two of the transmitter project was signed in March 2008, with the turnkey implementation of the new transmitter stations to be completed by mid 2009. The archive project is planned to run over a period of two years, during which Thomson will expand Saudi Radio and Television�s facilities for restoration and transfer, construct the new archive and develop a workflow for handling and ingest of the material. About Thomson Thomson SA -- http://www.thomson.net/-- (Euronext Paris: 18453; NYSE: TMS) provides technology, services, and systems to help its Media, Entertainment & Communications clients - content creators, content distributors and users of its technology - realize their business goals and optimize their performance in a rapidly changing technology environment. THOMSON SA: S&P Puts Recovery Ratings on Unsecured Debt Issues -------------------------------------------------------------- Standard & Poor's Ratings Services assigned recovery ratings to the unsecured debt issues of French technology group Thomson S.A. (BB/Negative/B). S&P assigned a recovery rating of '3' to Thomson's EUR1.75 billion revolving credit facility, indicating its expectation of meaningful (50%-70%) recovery for unsecured creditors in the event of a payment default. At the same time, S&P affirmed its issue-level rating on this debt at 'BB', in line with the corporate credit rating. S&P also assigned a recovery rating of '6' to Thomson's EUR500 million junior subordinated perpetual notes, indicating our expectation of negligible (0%-10%) recovery for unsecured creditors. S&P affirmed its issue-level rating on this debt at 'B', three notches below the corporate credit rating. The extra notch difference derives from the deferability of the coupon payments on the perpetual notes (for a recovery rating of 6, the standard notching difference with respect to the corporate credit rating is 2 notches). The issue-level ratings incorporate Standard & Poor's new criteria based on the application of recovery rating methodology. The corporate credit ratings on Thomson primarily reflect the company's aggressive debt measures and the maturity and margin pressure in some of its key divisions. These weaknesses are somewhat offset by the company's diversified customer relationships with media, electronics, and telecoms groups, which are often supported by medium- or long-term contracts, and by its steady license income. ============= G E R M A N Y ============= ABELE GMBH: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 ---------------------------------------------------- Creditors of Abele GmbH have until April 30, 2008, to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Martin Benzing. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 9:00 a.m. on May 21, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Stuttgart Hall 181 First Floor Hauffstr. 5 (Am Neckartor) 70190 Stuttgart Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Martin Benzing Charlottenstr. 29 70182 Stuttgart Germany Tel: 0711/2489080 The District Court of Stuttgart opened bankruptcy proceedings against Abele GmbH on March 19, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: Abele GmbH Siechenfeldstr. 25 73614 Schorndorf Germany AUTOLAND DELITZSCH: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 ------------------------------------------------------------ Creditors of Autoland Delitzsch GmbH have until April 30, 2008, to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Dr. Lucas F. Floether. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 10:30 a.m. on June 4, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Leipzig Hall 056 Ground Floor Enforcement Court Bernhard Goering Strasse 64 04275 Leipzig Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Dr. Lucas F. Floether Specks Hof Eingang C Nikolaistrasse 3-5 04109 Leipzig Germany Tel: 0341/652200 Fax: O341/65220111 The District Court of Leipzig opened bankruptcy proceedings against Autoland Delitzsch GmbH on March 6, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: Autoland Delitzsch GmbH Brodauer Dorfstr. 4 04509 Delitzsch Germany BACKSHOP FICHTNER: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 ----------------------------------------------------------- Creditors of Backshop Fichtner GmbH have until April 30, 2008, to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Dr. Philipp Grub. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 8:30 a.m. on May 29, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Pforzheim Hall 242 N Lindenstr. 8 75179 Pforzheim Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Dr. Philipp Grub Humboldtstr. 16 70178 Stuttgart Germany The District Court of Pforzheim opened bankruptcy proceedings against Backshop Fichtner GmbH on April 1, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: Backshop Fichtner GmbH Attn: Rolf Fichtner, Manager Schafwasche 4 71296 Heimsheim Germany BAU-AS GMBH: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 ----------------------------------------------------- Creditors of Bau-As GmbH have until April 30, 2008, to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Susanne Mueller. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 9:40 a.m. on May 30, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Neuruppin Hall 325 Karl-Marx-Strasse 18a 16816 Neuruppin Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Susanne Mueller Vietmannsdorfer Strasse 23 17268 Templin Germany The District Court of Neuruppin opened bankruptcy proceedings against Bau-As GmbH on March 11, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: Bau-As GMBH Muehlenweg 4 16909 Heiligengrabe Germany CARD & CO: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 --------------------------------------------------- Creditors of Card & Co Zoo Karten und Geschenke GmbH have until April 30, 2008, to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Andre Houben. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 11:05 a.m. on July 1, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Charlottenburg Hall 218 Second Floor Amtsgerichtsplatz 1 14057 Berlin Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Andre Houben Fasanenstr. 71 10719 Berlin Germany The District Court of Charlottenburg opened bankruptcy proceedings against Card & Co Zoo Karten und Geschenke GmbH on Feb. 6, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: Card & Co Zoo Karten und Geschenke GmbH Hardenbergstr. 7 10623 Berlin Germany CLINIC MEDIZINTECHNIK: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 --------------------------------------------------------------- Creditors of Clinic Medizintechnik GmbH have until April 30, 2008, to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Dr. Markus Schadler. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 9:30 a.m. on June 3, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Wuerzburg Meeting Hall 2 Second Stock Virchowstr. 14 Wuerzburg Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Dr. Markus Schadler Hofstrasse 3 97070 Wuerzburg Germany Tel. 0931/45202951 The District Court of Wuerzburg opened bankruptcy proceedings against Clinic Medizintechnik GmbH on March 7, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: Clinic Medizintechnik GmbH Sedanstrasse 27 97082 Wuerzburg Germany CMR TRANS: Creditors' Meeting Slated for May 27 ----------------------------------------------- The court-appointed insolvency manager for CMR Trans GmbH, Peter Kiehl, will present his first report on the Company's insolvency proceedings at a creditors' meeting at 11:00 a.m. on May 27, 2008. The meeting of creditors and other interested parties will be held at: The District Court of Koblenz Hall 111 Main Court Karmeliterstrasse 14 56068 Koblenz Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report at 11:00 a.m. on June 17, 2008, at the same venue. Creditors have until April 30, 2008, to register their claims with the court-appointed insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Peter Kiehl Rathausstrasse 129 56203 Hoehr-Grenzhausen Germany Tel: 02624/947036 Fax: 02624/947037 E-mail: info@RA-kiehl.de The District Court of Koblenz opened bankruptcy proceedings against CMR Trans GmbH on March 5, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: CMR Trans GmbH Auf'm Schaubert 15D 56072 Koblenz Germany D.V JALES: Claims Registration Period Ends May 2 ------------------------------------------------ Creditors of d.v jales GmbH have until May 2, 2008, to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Rolf Rombach. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 1:10 p.m. on June 10, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Gera Room 317 Rudolf-Diener-Str. 1 Gera Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Rolf Rombach Magdeburger Allee 159 99086 Erfurt Germany The District Court of Gera opened bankruptcy proceedings against d.v jales GmbH on April 1, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: d.v jales GmbH Attn: AG Jena, Manager Hainstrasse 10 07545 Gera Germany ERNST VESTERLING: Claims Registration Period Ens April 30 --------------------------------------------------------- Creditors of Ernst Vesterling GmbH have until April 30, 2008, to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Dr. Stefanie Kuche. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 9:20 a.m. on May 28, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Hannover Hall 226 Second Upper Floor Service Bldg. Hamburger Allee 26 30161 Hannover Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Dr. Stefanie Kuche Arthur-Menge-Ufer 5 30169 Hannover Germany Tel: 0511 626287-0 Fax: 0511 626287-10 The District Court of Hannover opened bankruptcy proceedings against Ernst Vesterling GmbH on March 6, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: Ernst Vesterling GmbH Zur Muehle 15 30559 Hannover Germany ESCADA AG: Lowers Expectations for Fiscal Year 2007/2008 -------------------------------------------------------- ESCADA AG said that on the background of a continually worsening market environment and based on the business figures at the end of March 2008, it is adjusting its expectations for fiscal year 2007/2008 (reporting date: October 31). From today's perspective the luxury women's fashion manufacturer is expecting consolidated sales to drop by a higher single-digit percentage point compared to last year's figure. The Group's EBITDA is currently estimated to fall short in the range of 25% versus last year. The Board of Management reckons that the result after taxes will be slightly positive. Based on a stable market environment ESCADA aimed to generate lower single-digit growth rates both for consolidated sales as well as Group EBITDA. The adjusted expectations reflect the further downturn of the economic environment of key markets over the last few weeks, and above all the heightened recessionary indicators in the USA. First Quarter Results The company had previously said that it expected and already communicated, a weak performance in the first quarter of fiscal year 2007/2008 (reporting date: January 31). Sales of the women's luxury fashion manufacturer totaled EUR142.1 million, a drop of 11.8% on the same period of last year (EUR161.2 million). Currency-adjusted the minus came to 9.1%. Operative earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) came to EUR6.8 million (2006/2007: EUR21.6 million; -68.5%). Consolidated earnings after taxes and minority interests came to EUR(3.9) million (Q1 2006/2007: EUR6.9 million). Next to the effects from foreign currency translation, the first three months business performance was affected above all by the well documented weak response to the Fall/Winter collections 2007, which had already started to impact the Group negatively in Q4 2006/2007. In addition, the first quarter was affected by delivery shifts of strong product groups for the Spring/Summer collections 2008 into the second quarter. Another factor was the launch of the new Cruise collection for ESCADA Sport, which has been already shipped at the end of the fourth quarter 2006/2007. The PRIMERA business unit also recorded an unsatisfactory operative business performance, especially at apriori and BiBA, which were both affected by weak response to their Fall/Winter collections 2007. The ESCADA business unit generated sales of EUR96.6 million in the first quarter (Q1 2006/2007: EUR111.5 million, -13.4%, currency adjusted: -9.4%). EBITDA totaled at EUR5.6 million (Q1 2006/2007: EUR16.0 million). The PRIMERA business units (with the brands apriori, BiBA, cavita, Laur�l) saw sales down by 7.9% to EUR52.2 million (Q1 2006/2007: EUR56.7 million) with EBITDA at EUR1.2 million (Q1 2006/2007: EUR5.6 million). About ESCADA ESCADA AG -- http://www.escada.com/-- is an international luxury fashion group in women's designer fashion. It has pursued a course of steady expansion since its founding in 1976 by Margaretha and Wolfgang Ley and today has 194 own shops and 226 franchise shops/corners in about 60 countries. Under its brand ESCADA, ESCADA produces and sells women's designer fashions (ESCADA Main Line and ESCADA Sport) for daytime, evening, business, leisure, wellness and special occasions as well as couture. The range of fashions is supplemented with accessories like handbags and shoes. Fragrances, eyewear and kids wear from licensed partners are also sold under the ESCADA brand. Through its subsidiary PRIMERA AG, the company additionally sells the midpriced brands apriori, BiBA (retail) and cavita as well as Laur�l (diffusion segment). The ESCADA Group is led by an international top management team which in turn is headed by a board of management composed of three executive directors. Since June 1, 2007 Jean-Marc Loubier (former executive at LVMH and president/CEO of C�line) took over as CEO. The capital stock of ESCADA AG amounts to EUR 88,023,475 and is divided into 17,192,085 no-par-value bearer shares. The shareholder structure is characterized to a significant degree by a free float held principally by internationally active institutional investors (80 - 90%). Since end of 2003 Mr. Rustam Aksenenko (CEO of Swiss Finance Group Finartis) is the biggest single shareholder. Further major shareholder are Bestinver Gestion (Madrid), Fidelity (London), Schroders (London), and the founder Wolfgang Ley. In fiscal year 2006/07 ESCADA generated Group sales of EUR686.6 million Euro 2005/06: EUR695.2 million). The business unit ESCADA generated sales of EUR461.8 million (2005/06: EUR489.2 million ). PRIMERA Group increased sales by 8.9% to EUR247.7 million. The consolidated net profit of EUR -26,8 million (2005/06: EUR6.9 million) is primarily the consequence of 39.9 million one-time expenses for structural measures aimed at improving the Group's efficiency and raising market performance. ESCADA AG: Apax Partners Discontinues Planned Equity Investment --------------------------------------------------------------- ESCADA AG disclosed that Apax Partners will no longer pursue discussions and plans for equity investment in the company. The Board of Management of ESCADA AG confirms that it has been in talks with the equity company Apax Partners for several months and that Apax Partners have been granted limited insight into the company's commercial and financial conditions. At the beginning of April 2008 Apax Partners informed the Board of Management, however, that they were not pursuing their plans for an equity investment in ESCADA AG any further and will therefore not continue negotiating. In their statement Apax Partners praised the support they received from the Board of Management, but state that the recent evolution of the stock price and the weakness of the international financial markets do not give a basis for pursuing the project. The Board of Management would like to thank Apax Partners for their positive interest in ESCADA. About ESCADA ESCADA AG -- http://www.escada.com/-- is an international luxury fashion group in women's designer fashion. It has pursued a course of steady expansion since its founding in 1976 by Margaretha and Wolfgang Ley and today has 194 own shops and 226 franchise shops/corners in about 60 countries. Under its brand ESCADA, ESCADA produces and sells women's designer fashions (ESCADA Main Line and ESCADA Sport) for daytime, evening, business, leisure, wellness and special occasions as well as couture. The range of fashions is supplemented with accessories like handbags and shoes. Fragrances, eyewear and kids wear from licensed partners are also sold under the ESCADA brand. Through its subsidiary PRIMERA AG, the company additionally sells the midpriced brands apriori, BiBA (retail) and cavita as well as Laur�l (diffusion segment). The ESCADA Group is led by an international top management team which in turn is headed by a board of management composed of three executive directors. Since June 1, 2007 Jean-Marc Loubier (former executive at LVMH and president/CEO of C�line) took over as CEO. The capital stock of ESCADA AG amounts to EUR 88,023,475 and is divided into 17,192,085 no-par-value bearer shares. The shareholder structure is characterized to a significant degree by a free float held principally by internationally active institutional investors (80 - 90%). Since end of 2003 Mr. Rustam Aksenenko (CEO of Swiss Finance Group Finartis) is the biggest single shareholder. Further major shareholder are Bestinver Gestion (Madrid), Fidelity (London), Schroders (London), and the founder Wolfgang Ley. In fiscal year 2006/07 ESCADA generated Group sales of EUR686.6 million Euro 2005/06: EUR695.2 million). The business unit ESCADA generated sales of EUR461.8 million (2005/06: EUR489.2 million ). PRIMERA Group increased sales by 8.9% to EUR247.7 million. The consolidated net profit of EUR -26,8 million (2005/06: EUR6.9 million) is primarily the consequence of 39.9 million one-time expenses for structural measures aimed at improving the Group's efficiency and raising market performance. ESCADA AG: Moody's Review 'B1' Ratings and May Downgrade -------------------------------------------------------- Moody's Investors Service placed the B1 debt ratings of ESCADA AG on review for possible downgrade following the company's announcement that its 2008 results will be negatively impacted by the current weak conditions in the luxury women's fashion market. ESCADA announced that it expects its 2008 consolidated sales to drop by a higher single-digit percentage compared to last year because of weak market conditions. It added that, as consequence of the revenue decline, it expects EBITDA to be 25% lower in 2008 than in 2007. Moody's rating review will examine whether the company's credit profile remains supportive of the current rating. In particular, it will evaluate ESCADA's ongoing cost management plans and strategies to mitigate the pressure on revenue and its cash flow from the challenging market environment. The review is expected to be completed within the next few weeks. These ratings have been placed on review for possible downgrade: Corporate Family Rating: B1 Senior Unsecured Rating: B1/LGD3 Moody's last rating action on ESCADA was in April 2007, when it was assigned a Probability of Default Rating and Loss Given Default Assessment following the implementation of LGD methodology. ESCADA, headquartered in Munich, is one of the leading European manufacturers and distributors of ready-to-wear luxury apparel for women. In the financial year ended 31 October 2007, the company reported consolidated sales of EUR686 million and EBITDA of EUR70.3 million. ESCADA AG: S&P Lowers Long-Term Corporate Credit Rating to B+ ------------------------------------------------------------- Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered its long-term corporate credit rating on German high-end women's fashion designer and retailer ESCADA AG to 'B+' from 'BB-'. The outlook is negative. The one-notch downgrade also applies to Escada's EUR200 million senior unsecured notes due in 2012. The recovery rating of '3' on these notes remains unchanged, indicating that lenders can expect meaningful (50%-70%) recovery in the event of a payment default. "The rating action follows the company's announcement that its revenues will drop by up to 10% in the financial year ending Oct. 31, 2008, versus 2007, triggering up to a 25% plunge in EBITDA," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Diego Festa. "These lower numbers will cause the company's debt metrics to fall to about 10% by year-end 2008, down from more than 20% at year-end 2007." In addition, Escada has announced the end of discussions with private equity investors, which reduces the potential for support from new shareholders for the company. Escada has primarily attributed declining sales and profitability during the past two quarters to its unsuccessful 2007/2008 fall-winter collection. In first-quarter 2008, like- for-like sales dropped by 9%, leading EBITDA in the period to plummet by 70%. This fresh profit warning, however, illustrates Escada's increased exposure to fashion risk in its main product lines. The company's dependence on one main brand amplifies its vulnerability. This may translate into a lasting downtrend in sales and profitability, going hand in hand with decreasing transparency in Escada's order book. "The negative outlook reflects the possibility that Escada's latest profit warning results from operating issues that may not be limited to just one collection," added Mr. Festa. "The pall on group sales could prevail over coming quarters, either through fashion risk or external event risk." Potentially tightening liquidity could also increase near-term pressure on the ratings. S&P could lower the ratings if management's efforts to achieve an operational turnaround don't lead to a sustainable recovery of adjusted FFO to debt to 15% by year-end 2009. ESCADA AG: Ordinary General Meeting Scheduled on April 17 --------------------------------------------------------- ESCADA AG disclosed in its website that it will hold its 24th ordinary general meeting at 10:00 a.m., on April 17, 2008. The meeting will be held at ArabellaSheraton Grand Hotel in Munich. ESCADA AG -- http://www.escada.com/-- is an international luxury fashion group in women's designer fashion. It has pursued a course of steady expansion since its founding in 1976 by Margaretha and Wolfgang Ley and today has 194 own shops and 226 franchise shops/corners in about 60 countries. Under its brand ESCADA, ESCADA produces and sells women's designer fashions (ESCADA Main Line and ESCADA Sport) for daytime, evening, business, leisure, wellness and special occasions as well as couture. The range of fashions is supplemented with accessories like handbags and shoes. Fragrances, eyewear and kids wear from licensed partners are also sold under the ESCADA brand. Through its subsidiary PRIMERA AG, the company additionally sells the midpriced brands apriori, BiBA (retail) and cavita as well as Laur�l (diffusion segment). The ESCADA Group is led by an international top management team which in turn is headed by a board of management composed of three executive directors. Since June 1, 2007 Jean-Marc Loubier (former executive at LVMH and president/CEO of C�line) took over as CEO. The capital stock of ESCADA AG amounts to EUR 88,023,475 and is divided into 17,192,085 no-par-value bearer shares. The shareholder structure is characterized to a significant degree by a free float held principally by internationally active institutional investors (80 - 90%). Since end of 2003 Mr. Rustam Aksenenko (CEO of Swiss Finance Group Finartis) is the biggest single shareholder. Further major shareholder are Bestinver Gestion (Madrid), Fidelity (London), Schroders (London), and the founder Wolfgang Ley. In fiscal year 2006/07 ESCADA generated Group sales of EUR686.6 million Euro 2005/06: EUR695.2 million). The business unit ESCADA generated sales of EUR461.8 million (2005/06: EUR489.2 million ). PRIMERA Group increased sales by 8.9% to EUR247.7 million. The consolidated net profit of EUR -26,8 million (2005/06: EUR6.9 million) is primarily the consequence of 39.9 million one-time expenses for structural measures aimed at improving the Group's efficiency and raising market performance. EUROPEGAS GMBH: Creditors' Meeting Slated for May 5 --------------------------------------------------- The court-appointed insolvency manager for Europegas GmbH, Dr. Biner Bahr, will present his first report on the Company's insolvency proceedings at a creditors' meeting at 9:30 a.m. on May 5, 2008. The meeting of creditors and other interested parties will be held at: The District Court of Duesseldorf Meeting Hall A 409 Fourth Floor Muehlenstrasse 34 40213 Duesseldorf Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report at 9:20 a.m. on May 19, 2008, at the same venue. Creditors have until April 30, 2008, to register their claims with the court-appointed insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Dr. Biner Bahr Graf-Adolf-Platz 15 40213 Duesseldorf Germany The District Court of Duesseldorf opened bankruptcy proceedings against Europegas GmbH on March 31, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: Europegas GmbH Jagenbergstrasse 15 41468 Neuss Germany G. REIBOLD GMBH: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 --------------------------------------------------------- Creditors of G. Reibold GmbH & Co. Kfz-Waschanlagen KG have until April 30, 2008, to register their claims with court- appointed insolvency manager Henning Jung. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 9:30 a.m. on June 6, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Kassel Hall 234 Friedrichsstrasse 32-34 34117 Kassel Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Henning Jung Wilhelmshoeher Allee 270 34131 Kassel Germany Tel: 0561/3166311 Fax: 0561/3166312 E-mail: kassel@leonhardt-westhelle.eu The District Court of Kassel opened bankruptcy proceedings against G. Reibold GmbH & Co. Kfz-Waschanlagen KG on March 12, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: G. Reibold GmbH & Co. Kfz-Waschanlagen KG Mombachstrasse 13-15 34127 Kassel Germany GASTRO-SERVICE-ROTH GMBH: Claims Registration Ends April 29 ----------------------------------------------------------- Creditors of Gastro-Service-Roth GmbH have until April 29, 2008, to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Claus-Ulrich Beutel. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 11:00 a.m. on June 10, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Nuernberg Meeting Hall 152/I Flaschenhofstr. 35 Nuernberg Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Claus-Ulrich Beutel Fuerther Strasse 62 90429 Nuernberg Germany Tel: 0911/312203 Fax: 09 11/325523 The District Court of Nuernberg opened bankruptcy proceedings against Gastro-Service-Roth GmbH on April 1, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: Gastro-Service-Roth GmbH Muenchener Strasse 19 a 91154 Roth Germany GLAS-UND GEBAUDEREINIGUNG: Claims Registration Ends April 30 ------------------------------------------------------------ Creditors of Glas-und Gebaudereinigung Becker GmbH have until April 30, 2008, to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Dr. Petra Mork. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 8:30 a.m. on June 5, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Dortmund Hall 3.201 Second Floor Gerichtsplatz 1 44135 Dortmund Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Dr. Petra Mork Arndtstr. 28 44135 Dortmund Germany The District Court of Dortmund opened bankruptcy proceedings against Glas-und Gebaudereinigung Becker GmbH on March 14, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: Glas- und Gebaudereinigung Becker GmbH Limbecker Str. 34 44388 Dortmund Germany HG BAUGESELLSCHAFT: Creditors Must File Claims by April 25 ---------------------------------------------------------- Creditors of HG Baugesellschaft mbH have until April 25, 2008, to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager F. Peters. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 9:30 a.m. on May 27, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Hamburg Hall B 405 Fourth Floor Annex Civil Justice Bldg. Sievkingplatz 1 20355 Hamburg Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: F. Peters Deichstrasse 1 20459 Hamburg Germany The District Court of Hamburg opened bankruptcy proceedings against HG Baugesellschaft mbH on March 5, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: HG Baugesellschaft mbH Kapellenstrasse 15 22117 Hamburg Germany HOLZHANDEL-SUED GMBH: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 -------------------------------------------------------------- Creditors of Holzhandel-Sued GmbH have until April 30, 2008, to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Eckelmann u.a. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 10:30 a.m. on June 25, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Ludwigsburg Hall 2008 Palace Schuetz Schorndorfer Road 28 Ludwigsburg Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Eckelmann u.a. Grosse Bahngasse 8-10, 74072 Heilbronn Germany The District Court of Ludwigsburg opened bankruptcy proceedings against Holzhandel-Sued GmbH on April 1, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: Holzhandel-Sued GmbH Attn: Markus Uebele, Manager Lemberger Str. 4 71546 Allmersbach a.W. AG Stuttgart Germany HUGO GOERNER: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 ------------------------------------------------------ Creditors of Hugo Goerner GmbH Technische & optische Kunststoffspritzgussteile have until April 30, 2008, to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Arndt Geiwitz. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 9:00 a.m. on May 26, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Aalen Hall 0.11 Ground Floor Stuttgarter Strasse 7 73430 Aalen Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Arndt Geiwitz Bahnhofstr. 41 89231 Neu-Ulm Germany Tel: 0731/97018-0 Fax: 0731/97018-650 E-mail: arndt.geiwitz@schneidergeiwitz.de Web site: http://www.schneidergeiwitz.de The District Court of Aalen opened bankruptcy proceedings against Hugo Goerner GmbH Technische & optische Kunststoffspritzgussteile on March 1, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: Hugo Goerner GmbH Technische & optische Kunststoffspritzgussteile Friedrichstr. 100 73430 Aalen Germany ISYS MARKETING: Creditors' Meeting Slated for April 16 ------------------------------------------------------ The court-appointed insolvency manager for iSYS Marketing & Consulting GmbH, Thomas Becker will present his first report on the Company's insolvency proceedings at a creditors' meeting at 2:05 p.m. on April 16, 2008. The meeting of creditors and other interested parties will be held at: The District Court of Saarbruecken Meeting Hall 24 Second Floor Vopeliusstrasse 2 66280 Sulzbach Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report at 2:15 p.m. on June 4, 2008, at the same venue. Creditors have until April 30, 2008, to register their claims with the court-appointed insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Thomas Becker Brueckenstrasse 60 66763 Dillingen Germany Tel: (06831) 769980 Fax: (06831) 7699870 The District Court of Saarbruecken opened bankruptcy proceedings against iSYS Marketing & Consulting GmbH on March 10, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: iSYS Marketing & Consulting GmbH Attn: Holmer Engel, Manager Gerlen 5 66131 Saarbruecken Germany J & M MALERFACHBETRIEB: Creditors Must File Claims by April 25 -------------------------------------------------------------- Creditors of J & M Malerfachbetrieb GmbH have until April 25, 2008, to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Jochen Eisenbeis. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 10:00 a.m. on May 21, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Saarbruecken Area Hall 13 First Floor Vopeliusstrasse 2 66280 Sulzbach Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Jochen Eisenbeis K�the-Kollwitz-Str. 11 66115 Saarbruecken Germany The District Court of Saarbruecken opened bankruptcy proceedings against J & M Malerfachbetrieb GmbH on March 1, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: J & M Malerfachbetrieb GmbH Fasanerieweg 13 66121 Saarbruecken Germany KA-UF SERVICE: Claims Registration Ends April 30 ------------------------------------------------ Creditors of KA-UF Service GmbH have until April 30, 2008 to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Jana Dettmer. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 10:35 a.m. on May 30, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present her first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Cologne Meeting Hall 1240 12th Floor Luxemburger Strasse 101 50939 Cologne Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Jana Dettmer Weyerstrasse 54 50676 Cologne Germany The District Court of Cologne opened bankruptcy proceedings against KA-UF Service GmbH on March 1, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: KA-UF Service GmbH Attn: Ufuk Sayin, Manager Pasteurstr. 1 50735 Cologne Germany KIDS IN STYLE: Claims Registration Period Ends May 2 ---------------------------------------------------- Creditors of kids in style GmbH have until May 2, 2008, to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Karen Geberbauer. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 10:00 a.m. on June 10, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present her first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Hamburg Hall B 405 Fourth Floor Annex Civil Justice Bldg. Sievkingplatz 1 20355 Hamburg Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Karen Geberbauer Landwehr 2 22087 Hamburg Germany The District Court of Hamburg opened bankruptcy proceedings against kids in style GmbH on April 1, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: kids in style GmbH Attn: Ingo Alexander Schirrmann, Manager Brooktorkai 8 20457 Hamburg Germany KM SPIELOTHEK: Claims Registration Ends April 30 ------------------------------------------------ Creditors of KM Spielothek GmbH have until April 30, 2008 to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Peter-Alexander Borchardt. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 10:30 a.m. on May 21, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Lueneburg Hall 302 Ochsenmarket 3 21335 Lueneburg Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Peter-Alexander Borchardt Deichstr. 1 20459 Hamburg Germany Tel: 040/37 60100 Fax: 040/37 601199 E-mail: hamburg@htg-wp.de The District Court of Lueneburg opened bankruptcy proceedings against KM Spielothek GmbH on March 10, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: KM Spielothek GmbH Attn: Martin Scheele, Manager Sandhoehe 21 21435 Stelle Germany LA BELLA: Claims Registration Ends April 30 ------------------------------------------- Creditors of La Bella Mamma Restaurant GmbH have until April 30, 2008 to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Norman Haring. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 9:32 a.m. on May 28, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Mayen Hall 220 Second Floor St. Veit-Strasse 38 56727 Mayen Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Norman Haring W. Th. Roemheld Strasse 14 55130 Mainz Germany Tel: 06131/28500 Fax: 06131/285028 E-mail: mainz@hess-rechtsanwaelte.de The District Court of Mayen opened bankruptcy proceedings against La Bella Mamma Restaurant GmbH on March 5, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: La Bella Mamma Restaurant GmbH Boemundring 12 56727 Mayen Germany Attn: Angelo Barani, Manager Haus de Haas Olpener Str. 180 51103 Cologne Germany LANSMANN & SCHULTEN: Creditors Must File Claims by April 25 ----------------------------------------------------------- Creditors of Lansmann & Schulten Bauunternehmung GmbH have until April 25, 2008, to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Sebastian Henneke. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 9:00 a.m. on May 20, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court Muenster Meeting Hall 13 B Gerichtsstr. 2-6 48149 Muenster Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Sebastian Henneke Adenauerallee 36 46399 Bocholt Germany The District Court of Muenster opened bankruptcy proceedings against Lansmann & Schulten Bauunternehmung GmbH on March 10, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: Lansmann & Schulten Bauunternehmung GmbH Rhedebruegger Strasse 29 46325 Borken Germany Attn: Werner Lansmann, Manage Immanuel-Kant-Strasse 9 b 46359 Heiden Germany LOGO MAssIVBAU: Claims Registration Ends April 30 ------------------------------------------------- Creditors of LOGO Massivbau GmbH have until April 30, 2008 to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Susanne Mueller. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 9:00 a.m. on May 30, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present her first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Neuruppin Hall 325 Karl-Marx-Strasse 18a 16816 Neuruppin Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Susanne Mueller Vietmannsdorfer Strasse 23 17268 Templin Germany The District Court of Neuruppin opened bankruptcy proceedings against LOGO Massivbau GmbH on March 1, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: LOGO Massivbau GmbH Attn: Ralf Lawitzke, Manager Petersdorfer Strasse 61 17268 Templin Germany LTG INTERCARGO: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 -------------------------------------------------------- Creditors of LTG Intercargo GmbH have until April 30, 2008, to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Georg Kreplin. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 8:30 a.m. on May 9, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Duesseldorf Meeting Hall A 341 Third Floor Muehlenstrasse 34 40213 Duesseldorf Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Georg Kreplin Breite Strasse 27 40213 Duesseldorf Germany The District Court of Duesseldorf opened bankruptcy proceedings against LTG Intercargo GmbH on April 1, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: LTG Intercargo GmbH Attn: Ulrich Lachmann, Manager Westring 3 40721 Hilden Germany LTG LACHMANN: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 ------------------------------------------------------ Creditors of LTG Lachmann Transportgesellschaft mbH have until April 30, 2008, to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Georg Kreplin. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 8:45 a.m. on May 9, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Duesseldorf Meeting Hall A 341 Third Floor Muehlenstrasse 34 40213 Duesseldorf Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report at 8:00 a.m. on May 30, 2008, at the same venue. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Georg Kreplin Breite Strasse 27 40213 Duesseldorf Germany The District Court of Duesseldorf opened bankruptcy proceedings against LTG Lachmann Transportgesellschaft mbH on April 1, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: LTG Lachmann Transportgesellschaft mbH Westring 3 40721 Hilden Germany MARTIN HOPSTER: Claims Registration Ends April 30 ------------------------------------------------- Creditors of Martin Hopster Zimmerei GmbH i. L. have until April 30, 2008 to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Frank W. Stroot. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 11:00 a.m. on May 16, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Bersenbrueck Hall E 11 Main Building Stiftshof 8 49593 Bersenbrueck Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Frank W. Stroot Sutthauser Strasse 285 49080 Osnabrueck Germany Tel: 0541/76007570 Fax: 0541/76007599 E-mail: infobpl-recht.de Web site: http://www.bpl-recht.de/ The District Court of Bersenbrueck opened bankruptcy proceedings against Martin Hopster Zimmerei GmbH i. L. on March 10, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: Martin Hopster Zimmerei GmbH i. L. Hollensteder Str. 13 49584 Fuerstenau Germany MAYER CONSULT: Claims Registration Ends April 30 ------------------------------------------------ Creditors of mayer consult GmbH i. L. have until April 30, 2008 to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Dr. Martin Dietrich. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 9:45 a.m. on June 12, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Dresden Hall D131 Olbrichtplatz 1 01099 Dresden Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Dr. Martin Dietrich Brauhaus 5 01099 Dresden Germany Web site: http://www.henningsmeier.de/ The District Court of Dresden opened bankruptcy proceedings against mayer consult GmbH i. L. on March 19, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: mayer consult GmbH i. L. Herrmann-Schomburg-Strasse 6 02694 Grossdubrau Germany METALLBEABEITUNG KREKER: Claims Registration Ends April 30 ---------------------------------------------------------- Creditors of Metallbeabeitung KREKER GmbH have until April 30, 2008 to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Sandra Kramer. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 2:00 p.m. on May 27, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present her first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Wuppertal Meeting Hall A234 Second Floor Eiland 2 42103 Wuppertal Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Sandra Kramer Morianstrasse 45 42103 Wuppertal Germany Tel: 0202/283310 Fax: 0202/2833175 The District Court of Wuppertal opened bankruptcy proceedings against Metallbeabeitung KREKER GmbH on March 31, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: Metallbeabeitung KREKER GmbH Attn: Gisela Kreker, Manager Kohlenstr. 23-25 42555 Velbert Germany METZGEREI KOEHLER: Creditors Must File Claims by April 25 --------------------------------------------------------- Creditors of Metzgerei Koehler GmbH have until April 25, 2008, to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Christian Adolf. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 1:10 p.m. on May 27, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Hof Meeting Hall 012 Ground Floor Berliner Platz 1 95030 Hof Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Christian Adolf Ludwigstr. 50 95028 Hof Germany The District Court of Hof opened bankruptcy proceedings against Metzgerei Koehler GmbH on Feb. 29, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: Metzgerei Koehler GmbH Friedhofweg 1 95213 Muenchberg Germany MICHAEL BOB: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 ----------------------------------------------------- Creditors of Michael Bob GmbH & Co. Textilhandel KG have until April 30, 2008, to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Udo Feser. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 10:00 a.m. on June 23, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Charlottenburg Hall 218 Second Floor Amtsgerichtsplatz 1 14057 Berlin Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Udo Feser Uhlandstr. 165/166 10719 Berlin Germany The District Court of Charlottenburg opened bankruptcy proceedings against Michael Bob GmbH & Co. Textilhandel KG on Feb. 1, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: Michael Bob GmbH & Co. Textilhandel KG Bleichgrabenstr. 3 41063 Moenchengladbach Germany MTS MASCHINENBAUTEAM: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 -------------------------------------------------------------- Creditors of mts MASCHINENBAUTEAM SCHWEERS GmbH & Co.Produktions- und Vertriebs KG have until April 30, 2008, to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Christian Willmer. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 9:00 a.m. on June 13, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Verden (Aller) Hall 214 Main Building Johanniswall 8 27283 Verden (Aller) Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Dr. Christian Willmer Georgstr. 5 27283 Verden (Aller) Germany Tel: 04231/884-45 Fax: 04231/884-55 The District Court of Verden (Aller) opened bankruptcy proceedings against mts MASCHINENBAUTEAM SCHWEERS GmbH & Co.Produktions- und Vertriebs KG on March 1, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: mts MASCHINENBAUTEAM SCHWEERS GmbH & Co.Produktions- und Vertriebs KG Justus-von-Liebig-Strasse 4 27283 Verden Germany POLYEX GMBH: Creditors Must File Claims by April 25 --------------------------------------------------- Creditors of Polyex GmbH have until April 25, 2008, to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Stephan Haspel. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 9:15 a.m. on May 27, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court of Landau in der Pfalz Hall 223 Marienring 13 76829 Landau in der Pfalz Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Stephan Haspel Xylanderstr. 3 76829 Landau in der Pfalz Germany The District Court of Landau in der Pfalz opened bankruptcy proceedings against Polyex GmbH on March 10, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: Polyex GmbH Im Entengrund 5 76726 Germersheim Germany WERNER KLAPPLADEN: Claims Registration Period Ends April 30 ----------------------------------------------------------- Creditors of Werner Klappladen GmbH have until April 30, 2008, to register their claims with court-appointed insolvency manager Dr. jur. Marcus Egner. Creditors and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the meeting at 10:00 a.m. on May 13, 2008, at which time the insolvency manager will present his first report on the insolvency proceedings. The meeting of creditors will be held at: The District Court Heilbronn Hall 4 Ground Floor Rollwagstr. 10a 74072 Heilbronn Germany The Court will also verify the claims set out in the insolvency manager's report during this meeting, while creditors may constitute a creditors' committee or opt to appoint a new insolvency manager. The insolvency manager can be reached at: Dr. jur. Marcus Egner Moltkestrasse 40 74072 Heilbronn Germany Tel: 07131/60990 Fax: 07131/609962 The District Court of Heilbronn opened bankruptcy proceedings against Werner Klappladen GmbH on April 1, 2008. Consequently, all pending proceedings against the company have been automatically stayed. The Debtor can be reached at: Werner Klappladen GmbH Burgweg 5a 74360 Ilsfeld-Auenstein Germany Attn: Tobias Werner, Manager Lerchenrain 37 74226 Nordheim Germany ========= I T A L Y ========= ALITALIA SPA: Sets April 15 Meeting with Unions ----------------------------------------------- Alitalia S.p.A. will meet its unions on April 15, 2008, to discuss plans for the national carrier's future after it revealed having only EUR170 million cash-to-hand and short-term financial credits, Bloomberg News reports citing a spokesman for the FILT-CGIL union. As reported in the TCR-Europe on April 10, 2008, Alitalia said it needs substantial financial support, through which it would "be possible to regain the required confidence to pursue the company�s business plan and hence to confirm continuity of operations." Alitalia said in January 2008 that it needs to raise EUR750 million in fresh funds in the first half of the year to remain at "adequate operating levels." The Italian government had pledged to grant Alitalia a EUR300 million bridging loan if the sale of its 49.9% stake to Air France pushes through. The French carrier, however, withdrew its binding offer after failing to receive approval from Alitalia's unions, which Air France needs to finalize the takeover. As reported in the TCR-Europe on April 9, 2008, Air France CEO Jean Cyril Spinetta said that "it's now up to Alitalia and its employees and unions to say how they view the future of their airline." Mr. Spinetta noted that Air France will not submit a new offer, stressing that the plans amended bid presented to unions during the negotiations "is the only one that would enable Alitalia to return to profitable growth within a rapid time frame." Alitalia's unions have expressed willingness to resume talks with Air France. About Alitalia Headquartered in Rome, Italy, Alitalia S.p.A. -- http://www.alitalia.it/-- provides air travel services for passengers and air transport of cargo on national, international and inter-continental routes. The Italian government owns 49.9% of Alitalia. The company has operations in Argentina. Despite a EUR1.4 billion state-backed restructuring in 1997, Alitalia posted net losses of EUR256 million and EUR907 million in 2000 and 2001 respectively. Alitalia posted EUR93 million in net profits in 2002 after a EUR1.4 billion capital injection. The carrier booked annual net losses of EUR520 million in 2003, EUR813 million in 2004, EUR168 million in 2005, and EUR625.6 million in 2006. Italian Finance Minister Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa had said that if the sale to Air France fails, Alitalia may seek protection from creditors and the government would appoint a special commissioner to initiate bankruptcy proceedings. PARMALAT SPA: Shareholders Elect Directors' & Auditors' Board ---------------------------