Hedge Fund Shareholders Withdraw from Northwest Deal

Hedge fund shareholders withdrew their motion to have a say in the payment deals after the Northwest Airline Corp reorganization, surprising U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper. The hedge fund committee claims that Jugde Gropper has not allowed an investigation into whether Northwest plans to merge with Delta.

The temporary committee of hedge fund investors tried to subpoena rival airlines that may have held merger talks with Northwest, in a effort to prove that it is worth more than it claims. Northwest said shareholders will receive nothing and existing shares will be canceled upon the carrier’s exit from bankruptcy.

The shareholder group led by the Owl Creek hedge fund has been fighting Northwest’s claims that there won’t be enough cash to pay the shareholders after the bankruptcy reorganization.

Northwest Airlines said it had a net loss of $349 million for January. Revenue was $892 million, the carrier said in a filing with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.

Northwest Airlines said that it expected to be worth roughly $7 billion when it emerged from bankruptcy later this year and that it would pay unsecured creditors roughly three-quarters of what they were owed.