Grupo Mexico Offers Options to Asarco Debtors

In an ongoing attempt to keep bankrupt miner Asarco, Grupo Mexico subsidiary Americas Mining Corp (AMC) is offering Asarco creditors 3 options that it says bring superior value than other offers Sterlite and debtors have made. In the first option, AMC would pay the principal amount of claims, if it loses the case, related to a lawsuit in which Asarco accuses AMC of driving it into bankruptcy. In this case, AMC would pay 97% in cash and equivalents, consisting of $3.2bn, as well as the remaining 3% from amounts recovered from various litigation proceedings, including against Sterlite. The second option consists of a payment of $1.1bn, plus a 9-year promissory note for $770m which the debtors say has a present value of $309m, says Grupo Mexico. The third option, offering the same terms as the previous option, gives creditors the option of converting the $770 promissory note through a cash exchange on the closing date.