Fort Worth Star Telegram – A hedge fund run by billionaire investor David Tepper launched a new bid Monday to slow Delphi Corp.’s restructuring plans, asking a judge to bar the company fromjettisoning its labor union agreements and its money-losing contracts with General Motors Corp.
The hedge fund, Appaloosa Management LP, said in papers filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan that Delphi hasn’t yet provided evidence that its proposals are likely to benefit the company. It said Delphi’s request for court approval appeared to be “premature” under the circumstances.
In Ohio, Delphi employs about 13,000 workers in Ohio in the Dayton, Warren, Columbus and Sandusky areas.
Appaloosa, which owns about 9 percent of Delphi stock, is one of the company’s biggest shareholders and a leading opponent of GM’s role in Delphi’s bankruptcy reorganization. It contends that GM, Delphi’s biggest customer, is using its influence over the company to set itself up for a big payoff.
But Monday, Appaloosa aligned itself with GM on one matter: Delphi’s request to scrap 5,472 GM contracts it says have caused it to incur “escalating losses.” GM last week asked a judge to deny that request, saying the company had failed to provide documentary evidence of its need to reject those contracts.
