Titanium dioxide pigment producer Tronox (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma / USA; www.tronox.com) has won approval for a reorganisation plan which it says paves the way for it to emerge from bankruptcy protection in the coming weeks. A US bankruptcy court confirmed the plan that will become effective after the court has entered a written order and other plan conditions have been satisfied, Tronox stated.

Dennis Wanlass, Tronox’s CEO, commented: "We will emerge from the Chapter 11 process well positioned to compete in the titanium dioxide and specialty chemical industries, having eliminated our significant environmental and other legacy liabilities."

Under the plan, Tronox said it will reorganise around its existing operating businesses, including facilities in the US, the Netherlands and Australia. To meet its working capital needs and fund distributions required by the reorganisation plan, Tronox said it would rely on a loan of no more than USD 470m plus proceeds from a USD 185m rights offering.

Tronox filed for bankruptcy protection in January 2009 (see Plasteurope.com of 14.01.2009), claiming that its former parent, Kerr-McGee, burdened the company with environmental liabilities. Kerr-McGee spun off Tronox in 2006, and Anadarko Petroleum bought Kerr-McGee five months later.

Tronox intends to settle US government environmental claims by paying USD 270m in cash and contributing 88% of proceeds from its lawsuit seeking to recover clean-up costs from Anadarko and Kerr-McGee. The proposed settlement also calls for tort claimants to receive USD 12.5m in cash plus the remaining 12% of proceeds from the lawsuit, Tronox said.