Aluminum Company a Test of L.A. Firm’s Mettle

0
Aluminum Company a Test of L.A. Firm’s Mettle
Preferred Chief Exec Li Yu.

Oaktree Capital Management is going toe to toe with Dubai in a battle for ownership of an aluminum company, and the downtown L.A. investment firm may just come away with the prize.

The firm is set to take control of Almatis B.V., a bankrupt German aluminum supplier that recently rejected a refinancing plan put forward by its owner, Dubai International Capital, the investment arm of Dubai’s sovereign wealth fund.

Oaktree, which had held a 46 percent stake in Almatis, would become the majority owner under a prepackaged bankruptcy reorganization plan approved by lenders earlier this month. The plan is expected to go before a New York judge for approval July 19.

DIC had urged the debt-laden aluminum company to accept $100 million in new equity from the parent company and an additional revolving line of credit. Almatis rejected the proposal and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection April 30.

In the filing, Almatis listed assets of between $500 million and $1 billion, and liabilities of more than $1 billion.

DIC said it would vigorously fight the Oaktree-backed reorganization plan. Last week, DIC filed a petition in the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal, which it said would provide additional time “to fully explore a consensual refinancing and thereby ensure that the interests of all stakeholders, including the significant number of dissenting senior lenders and the junior lenders, are properly protected.”

Oaktree, founded in 1995 by a group of investors including Howard Marks, declined to comment for this article.

Consent Orders

Two local banks are facing greater scrutiny from regulators.

Preferred Bank and California Business Bank each received consent orders in mid-March from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the agency has revealed.

Preferred, a Chinese-American bank headquartered in Los Angeles, was directed to raise capital levels and reduce classified assets in an order dated March 16. In the bank’s first quarter conference call, Chief Executive Li Yu said executives expect to comply with the order “within a short period of time.”

Preferred, which has $1.38 billion in assets, recently reported first quarter income of $3.1 million.

California Business Bank, a small institution catering primarily to medium-size businesses, received a similar order March 18. The bank has assets of $108 million.

Preferred and California join other local banks under regulatory orders. Golden Coast Bank in Long Beach entered into a consent order with the FDIC in February for violating unspecified consumer laws.

Growing Assets

City National Bank is hot on the heels of East West Bank.

City National, which acquired the assets and deposits of 1st Pacific Bank of California on May 7, raised its total assets to $20.1 billion, just a hair behind East West as the largest bank in Southern California. East West, headquartered in Pasadena, has $20.2 billion in assets.

Downtown L.A.’s City National, owned by City National Corp., acquired 1st Pacific after the San Diego institution was closed by regulators. As of March 31, 1st Pacific had $336 million in assets, including six branches that opened last week as City National locations, and $291 million in deposits.

In December, City National acquired Imperial Capital Bank, a $4 billion-asset La Jolla institution that was also closed by regulators.

C-Suite News

Bill Cheney, chief executive of the California Credit Union League, has been named chief executive of the Credit Union National Association, effective July 5. The Rancho Palos Verdes resident will step down from the California group July 4. A search committee has been formed to find a replacement. … Kinecta Federal Credit Union in Manhattan Beach announced that Brian Robinett was named chief credit officer. … Community Bank, headquartered in Pasadena, announced two promotions. Charles Rosen was appointed executive vice president of market management, and Alan Buckle was promoted to senior vice president and regional manager. … First California Financial Group Inc., the Westlake Village holding company for First California Bank, named Bradley Brown chief auditor and chief risk officer. … Imperial Capital LLC, a Century City investment bank, announced the hiring of Travis Black as managing director of the firm’s high-yield capital markets division. … Citi Private Bank, the wealth management arm of financial conglomerate Citibank, announced that Andrea Rossato was hired as a senior vice president in the firm’s L.A. office.

Staff reporter Richard Clough can be reached at [email protected] or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 251.

No posts to display