WaMu's parent petitions for bankruptcy Left with few alternatives after federal banking authorities seized its main business, Washington Mutual Inc. has filed for bankruptcy. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took control of WaMu's Washington Mutual FSB unit on Sept. 25 and sold it to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. for $1.9 billion, leaving the Seattle-based bank holding company with little left in the way of operations. WaMu and its affiliate, WMI Investment Corp., filed for Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington late on Sept. 26, listing its assets at $32.9 billion and its debts at $8.16 billion in its skeletal filing. A status conference has been set for Friday.
- Jamie Mason
Chevy dealership will liquidate The struggling automotive sector has claimed yet another dealership victim, and likely its largest, in Bill Heard Enterprises Inc. BHE, which operates 14 Chevrolet dealerships in seven states and at its peak had $2.5 billion in annual sales, filed for Chapter 11 on Sunday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Alabama in Decatur and will liquidate its business.
- Ben Fidler
Renaissance wins case consolidation
Bankrupt Renaissance Development Corp. and two units won consolidation of their separate cases Monday as the luxury homebuilder scrambles to restructure. RDC will return to court Thursday seeking to rollover about $85 million in prepetition funding from Washington Federal Bank, Sterling Savings Bank, Banner Bank, Home Street Bank and Columbia River Bank
. - Terry Brennan
