Lehman Brothers Rockefeller centre

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. submitted to their creditors a revised Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan and hopes to get the approval of the bankruptcy court by June or July.

The revised bankruptcy plan……would give the average Lehman creditor 18.6 cents on the dollar, an increase from 14.7 cents in its first plan, outlined in March and April of 2010,… Paulson and the other senior bondholders would be paid 21.4 cents on the dollar under the new plan. Marsal originally offered them 17.4 cents. Creditors with general unsecured claims against the parent company would receive a return of 19.8 percent, according to the plan disclosure statement.

The payouts under the revised Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan are quite generous. Oftentimes, the average shareholder doesn’t receive anything once a company goes into bankruptcy. This bankruptcy has lasted 28 months and the battles amongst creditors have been fierce, each creditor battling to get his “fair” share of the bankrupt Lehman Brothers’ assets. But luckily for all involved, the bankruptcy system allows for an orderly way to settle the disputes in this company’s insolvency.  Without bankruptcy, the company would have been long ago liquidated and the most valuable assets seized by the most powerful creditors, even if they weren’t the ones most entitled to those assets.

Once the bankruptcy court approves the new Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan, Lehman’s creditors will be paid according to their priority and the agreements they came to with the court and the debtor. It is not at this point clear if some creditors plan to pursue litigation over the bankruptcy if they did not get what they felt was their fair share.

(source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-01-26/lehman-brothers-files-revised-plan-to-exit-bankruptcy.html )