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<b><I>Lyondell Chemical</I></b>: A Long and Winding Roadmap for Creditors in Leveraged Transaction Cases

By Steven B. Smith
August 01, 2017

In July 2009, the LyondellBasell Litigation Trustee commenced litigation arising out of the merger of Lyondell and Basell, seeking the recovery of billions of dollars for the benefit of unsecured creditors. And, as Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn observed, the Trustee “threw the kitchen sink” at the defendants. Actual and constructive fraudulent transfer claims. Preference claims. Breach of contract claims. Even claims alleging breaches of Luxembourg law.

Eight years of litigation and two bankruptcy judges later, we have a decision. On April 21, 2017, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, in Weisfelner v. Blavatnik (In re Lyondell Chemical Company), 2017 BL 131876 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Apr. 21, 2017), dismissed all but a $7.2 million judgment on a breach of contract claim. Here's the story.

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