Halliburton Units KBR and DII Exit Bankruptcy

[Up2Late]

Isn't it nice to know that a Corporation that's made over 10 Billion Dollars off of the Iraq War for oil (and the backs of the America people) can make it out of Bankruptcy in to days world. :puke:
:mad: Well they didn't call Kellogg, Brown, and Root "Kellogg Rap and Loot" back in during the Vietnam war for nothing. :mad:


Halliburton Units KBR and DII Exit Bankruptcy

Reuters- Mon Jan 3, 2005 01:11 PM ET

By Matt Daily

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Oilfield services company Halliburton Co. on Monday said its subsidiaries Kellogg Brown & Root and DII Industries have emerged from the year-long bankruptcy proceedings it instigated to facilitate a $4.2 billion asbestos settlement.

The company said a U.S. bankruptcy court's approval of its reorganization plan for the units and the settlement of asbestos and silica exposure claims had become final and unappealable, allowing the units to operate without court supervision.

"I am pleased that we have taken our final step and permanently resolved our asbestos liability," Dave Lesar, Halliburton's chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

"The asbestos chapter in Halliburton's history is closed," he added.

Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), Halliburton's engineering and construction unit, is the U.S. military's largest private contractor in Iraq.

KBR, which has been paid more than $10 billion for its logistics and oilfield reconstruction work in Iraq, is also the subject of inquiries for possible overcharges for fuel supplies and meal services under those Pentagon contracts.

Halliburton inherited the asbestos liability through its nearly $8 billion purchase of Dresser Industries in 1998, when Halliburton was headed by Vice President Dick Cheney.

The asbestos issue has long been a drag on Halliburton's share price, and although the emergence from bankruptcy was widely expected following court rulings last month, one analyst credited the company with managing to put the issue behind it.

"This is a very good outcome. It's been a long time coming," said Kevin Wood, analyst with Susquehanna Financial Group in New York.

Halliburton said in September it planned to sell or spin off KBR through a public offering once it emerged from bankruptcy protection.

The company has launched a massive restructuring of the business, aiming to save $80 million to $100 million in annual operational costs.

Under its settlement with 370,000 asbestos claimants and 21,000 silica claimants, Halliburton will pay about $2.8 billion in cash and 59.5 million shares of its stock into a trust fund to compensate current and future victims.

Halliburton said it expects to fund trusts for current and future asbestos and silica claimants by the end of January.

Halliburton shares, which rose 50 percent during 2004, were off 2.75 percent, or $1.08, at $38.16 a share in trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.

[Up2Late]

1. What, no comments?

:wtf:Is the Halliburton played out?

[indepat]

2. Now isn't this special: war is surely a boon for some, so it must not be

all bad.