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$5.2 billion Owens Corning asbestos trust
Owens Corning agreed on Wednesday to pay roughly $5.2 billion to settle all asbestos-related lawsuits and emerge from bankruptcy free of further asbestos liability. According to the terms of the settlement, the Ohio-based manufacturer of insulation products will make an initial payment of $2.9 billion into a trust fund for asbestos victims. The company will make another $1.39 billion payment within 10 days of the completion of this year's U.S. congressional session. Owens Corning also will deliver to the trust 28.6 million shares of equity in the reorganized company. That is expected to push value of the settlement beyond $5.2 billion, according to John D. Cooney, of the Chicago firm of Cooney and Conway. … DePaul University College of Law Professor Stephan A. Landsman, who has been a longtime observer of asbestos litigation, said he doubted the legislation was still a possibility this year. "I just don't think that there's a will in Congress to produce a solution here," he said. "They took their best shot early in the term. That failed." There are too many divisive points to the legislation for lawmakers to reach any consensus, Landsman said. Instead, he said, settlements by companies like Owens Corning and USG may be indications that they are "throwing in the cards" in terms of having any faith in the possibility of support through federal legislation. Many of the affected companies are very profitable and it makes sense to work something out rather than continue to be tied down by bankruptcy protection, Landsman said. "I think that everybody who faces a big asbestos problem is well served to get it behind them," he said.
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