SPHC / Bondex Asbestos Trust: Claims and Payment

Specialty Products Holding Corp. (SPHC) and Bondex International, Inc. filed voluntary Chapter 11 petitions in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on May 31, 2010. The two debtors are subsidiaries of RPM International Inc. Republic Powdered Metals, Inc. and NMBFiL, Inc. were later added as debtors. The jointly administered case numbers are 10-11780 for SPHC, 10-11779 for Bondex, 14-12028 for Republic and 14-11942 for NMBFiL. The joint plan of reorganization is dated December 9, 2014. It was supported by RPM, the official committee of asbestos personal injury claimants and the future claimants' representative. It creates an Asbestos Personal Injury Trust under section 524(g) of the Bankruptcy Code, with separate SPHC and NMBFiL trust accounts. RPM's SEC filings state that the plan was confirmed on December 10, 2014 and took effect on December 23, 2014, when the four debtors emerged from bankruptcy. RPM also reports that the trust assumed liability for current and future asbestos personal injury claims of those entities. According to those filings, the trust was funded with $450.0 million in cash and a non-interest-bearing promissory note. Further payments of $102.5 million, $120.0 million and $125.0 million were due by the second, third and fourth anniversaries of the effective date.