Westinghouse creditors approve restructuring plan

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Those owed money by bankrupt nuclear firm Westinghouse Electric Co. overwhelmingly voted to approve the Cranberry company’s plan to distribute the proceeds of a $4.6 billion sale to a Canadian asset manager.

More than 1,000 ballots were cast representing $40.6 billion in claims. Only those representing $6.6 million — or less than half a percent — rejected the plan, which involves all of Westinghouse’s assets being acquired by Brookfield Business Partners.

A bankruptcy judge still must approve the plan during a hearing scheduled for March 27.

As they said they would do, the largest claim holders — banks and hedge funds — all voted in favor of the plan, as did former Westinghouse CEO Danny Roderick, who staked his $4.2 million claim for the proposal.

Steve Hamilton, a former Westinghouse executive who was tasked with an internal investigation of company decisions and who had filed a Department of Labor claim against Westinghouse for allegedly sidelining him after he presented his results, also approved of the plan.

Mr. Hamilton had filed two claims totaling about $645,000.

A handful of retired Westinghouse employees voted to reject the plan, as did Alabama-based Consolidated Pipe and Supply Company Inc., which voted with more than $3.5 million in claims against it.