Pittsburgh Corning Corp., a manufacturer of sustainable, high performance glass products for the building, energy and industrial markets, announced that its Modified Third Amended Plan of Reorganization was confirmed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, effective late yesterday.
The confirmation leads the company one step closer to emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Pittsburgh Corning has operated under Chapter 11 protection since April 16, 2000.
Between 1964 and 1972, Pittsburgh Corning manufactured, marketed and sold Unibestos, an asbestos pipe insulation product it acquired from Union Asbestos and Rubber Company. The company manufactured Unibestos at its plants in Tyler, Texas and Port Allegany, Pennsylvania. While the Pittsburgh Corning revenues for this product averaged less than $3 million annually, the company was named as a defendant in asbestos-related lawsuits, defending and resolving more than 200,000 claims. Pittsburgh Corning sought Chapter 11 protection in 2000, when it became apparent that defending and settling an additional 235,000 claims would exhaust company resources before they could be resolved.
The company said that the newly confirmed Plan of Reorganization establishes a trust valued in excess of $3.5 billion to assume all asbestos-related liabilities and resolve all asbestos personal injury claims. The trust will be funded by Pittsburgh Corning, its shareholders PPG Industries Inc. and Corning Incorporated, and participating insurance carriers.
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