-Caveat Lector- From http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?print=1&guid={C4A20220-1B65- 4124-8BDE-91C8FDEA533F}&siteid=yhoo
}}}>Begin Enron auction negotiations continue Company hopes to announce results Friday By Greg Morcroft, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 10:01 PM ET Jan. 10, 2002 NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Officials with bankrupt energy trader Enron said the company now hopes to have a conclusion Friday morning on the winner of bidding for its wholesale trading operations. Click Here to Visit NYSE Free! Sign-up here to receive Midday and Market Close e-newsletters! Create an alert for Add to my portfolio Discuss NEWS FOR More news for Quote delayed 20 minutes. Disclaimer "Since the sealed bids were received on Monday, we have been negotiating with the parties," said Enron Chief Financial Officer Jeff McMahon in a statement. "These discussions are expected to continue into the night. We hope to have a conclusion Friday morning, which would be announced when Enron plans to make a recommendation to the Bankruptcy Court." The extended talks come as Enron's bankruptcy drew Justice Department scrutiny and an admission from the White House that company officials contacted the Bush Administration in the weeks before it went under seeking suppo rt. See full coverage. The auction process is being conducted at the New York offices of Enron's main law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges. Enron (ENE: news, chart, profile) had been expected to announce the results on Thursday. The sale is important for Enron and its creditors, because until the firm hooks up with a partner with a sterling credit rating, the status of its positions in the market and its ability to meet its financial obligations remain in doubt. The auction is widely viewed as a contest between Citigroup (C: news, chart, profile) and Switzerland's UBS, both major Enron creditors, but other offers may emerge. B.P. Amoco (BP: news, chart, profile) has been reported as a bidder, as well, however the company said earlier this week that its bid was just for the trading platform, not its book of business. It's expected the hardware assets will attract more bids than the trading positions, said to be worth up to $7 billion on paper. The winner will be determined by Enron's lawyers, in conjunction with the 15-member Enron creditors' committee, which includes Citigroup and UBS. Following the auction, the company is scheduled to go before federal bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez for approval of the sale, which would make the winner a 51 percent owner of the trader's most profitable business. Enron's trading operation generated almost 90 percent of the firm's $101 billion in 2001 revenue. Most industry insiders expect the judge to clear the deal, despite objections of several creditors. The creditors are concerned that any proceeds from the sale not be diverted to the trading operation, but be disbursed to them. On Wednesday, more than 15 creditors asked the court to either postpone or oppose the sale on concerns about how the proceeds would be distributed. But, with the value of the business largely tied up in energy contracts, any proceeds generated by the ongoing business are not likely to show up immediately. Dynegy (DYN: news, chart, profile), a creditor and former merger partner with Enron, said Wednesday it had not taken any action to delay the sale. However, Dynegy, along with many other creditors, is seeking to have the bankruptcy court move the case to Texas, Enron's home state, from New York. Enron shares, some of the NYSE's most active on Thursday, slipped 9 cents, or more than 11 percent, to 70 cents. Greg Morcroft is New York news editor of CBS.MarketWatch.com. Front Page | Message Boards | Mobile | MarketPlace | Free Membership Feedback | Letters to the Editor | Company Info | Advertising Media Kit | Licensing Make CBS.MarketWatch.com your Home Page Partner Sites CBSNews.com | CBS.com | FTMarketWatch.com | FT.com | BigCharts.com © 1997-2002 MarketWatch.com, Inc. All rights reserved. Disclaimer. See our updated Privacy Policy. CBS and the CBS "eye device" are registered trademarks of CBS Inc. Intraday data provided by S&P Comstock and subject to terms of use. Historical and current end-of-day data provided by FT Interactive Data. Chicago Mercantile Exchange intraday data is at least 10-minutes delayed. Intraday data is at least 15-minutes delayed. All quotes are in local exchange time. SEHK intraday data is provided by S&P Comstock and is at least 60- minutes delayed. End<{{{ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe simply because it has been handed down for many generations. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of Teachers, elders or wise men. Believe only after careful observation and analysis, when you find that it agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all. Then accept it and live up to it." The Buddha on Belief, from the Kalama Sutta + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled one is truly vanquished. -Johann Christoph Schiller, German Writer (1759-1805) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." Universal Declaration of Human Rights + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." --- Ernest Hemingway <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om