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Enron Mail |
I think we need to get on top of this fast! Can McMann issue a
statement with Dynegy? Dynegy Won't Comment On Merger Partner Enron's 10-Q By Christina Cheddar 11/20/2001 Dow Jones News Service (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Dynegy Inc. (DYN) declined Tuesday to comment on whether its merger with Enron Corp. (ENE) would be affected by the contents of Enron's quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Monday. In the 10-Q, which was filed five days past the SEC deadline, Enron revised its third-quarter earnings downward by 3 cents a share, and disclosed it may have to pay off a $690 million note owed to an affiliated partnership because a clause in a financial agreement was triggered by the reduction in Enron's senior unsecured debt rating to triple-B-minus by Standard & Poor's a week ago. The amount will have to be paid by Nov. 12 if Enron doesn't find collateral to guarantee the debt, the company said in the filing. Enron is working to come up with an acceptable agreement on the debt, but didn't disclose who holds the note. Enron used partnerships in order to hedge its investment risk, and in some cases to keep the debt off its balance sheet. The practice is being investigated by the SEC and by an internal committee Enron has named. In the filing, Enron also said it may have to take a $700 million pretax charge to earnings for the declining value of assets held by another partnership, Whitewing LLP. When asked if Dynegy had known about the collateral call on the debt or about the decline in Whitewing's value, a Dynegy spokeswoman declined to comment. "We are referring all questions about the Enron 10-Q to Enron," said the spokeswoman. Representatives of Enron weren't immediately available for comment. Dynegy agreed to buy Enron earlier this month. Earlier Tuesday, the deal was worth about $11.97 billion in stock, but Enron shares were trading at a 32.5% discount to the offer price earlier Tuesday morning, which is a sign of the uncertainty surrounding the transaction. Enron shares were recently trading at $7.86, down $1.20, or 13.2%, while Dynegy shares changed hands at $43.29, down 31 cents, or 0.8%. A ChevronTexaco Corp. (CVX) official wasn't immediately available to comment on the matter. ChevronTexaco, San Francisco, owns 26% of Dynegy and is providing $2.5 billion in cash to Dynegy as part of the buyout. Last week, an inital payment of $1.5 billion was transferred to Dynegy and then to Enron to help meet Enron's immediate cash needs. Dynegy's merger agreement with Enron contains several provisions beyond the standard "material adverse change" provision that would allow the deal to be terminated. Still, some question whether Dynegy was able to fully assess Enron's liabilities prior to striking the deal. Investors have expressed frustration with Enron's lack of disclosure, and even marvelled at the fact that the 10-Q included material that could have been mentioned in previous filings or company conference calls. Energy Cos Limit Business With Enron After 10Q -Traders By Mark Golden 11/20/2001 Dow Jones Energy Service (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Many energy trading companies were unwilling to sell power and natural gas for next day delivery to Enron Corp. (ENE) Tuesday morning, a result of heightened credit concerns following the release of Enron's quarterly financial report Monday, traders and other sources said. For weeks, companies have limited both buying and selling with Enron for future deliveries. But for the first time since Enron's troubles began a month ago, energy companies weren't selling to Enron in the spot markets for fear that Enron might not be able to pay its bills as soon as next month. "It's pretty well accepted in the industry that people are staying away for now," said Charlie Sanchez, energy market manager for Gelber & Associates in Houston. Traders at all of the major companies contacted said they couldn't sell to Enron Tuesday morning. Several spokespeople for energy companies confirmed the situation, but declined to say so on the record. "Nobody will take Enron," one western electricity broker said. After struggling, however, that broker eventually found a utility that was willing to sell to Enron Tuesday morning. Calpine, a prominent independent power producer and trader, said it was willing to sell power to Enron. "We continue to sell power to Enron and are monitoring the situation closely," spokeswoman Catherine Potter said. The situation Tuesday morning was fluid. One utility that refused to sell to Enron in the morning was willing to do so in the afternoon, a person at the company said. That company's trading, however, was still limited to the spot markets. Credit concerns about the once-dominant energy trading company were heightened with Enron's filing of its third quarter annual report Monday evening with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission. Enron may have to pay $690 million on a note that became a demand obligation with the company's most recent credit-rating downgrade, Enron said in Monday's filing. The company also warned that its profits in the fourth quarter could be hurt by credit concerns, a decline in asset values and reduced trading activity. "The 10Q in and by itself is a document that could raise concerns," Fitch analyst Ralph Pellecchia said. "We have a lot of questions outstanding relative to disclosures that were new to us and their strategies of how they are going to manage the situation." Companies are willing to buy from Enron in the spot gas and power markets, because taking delivery on commodity and paying for it a month later poses no credit risk for the buyer. Reliant surprised by latest Enron disclosure HOUSTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Reliant Resources Inc. (NYSE:RRI - news), a trading partner of beleaguered energy trading giant Enron Corp.(NYSE:ENE - news), said on Tuesday it was surprised by news that Enron could be forced to pay $690 million in debt next week because of a credit rating downgrade. Shahid Malik, Reliant's president of energy trading and marketing, said his company was still evaluating the implications of the disclosure, which Enron made in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday. ``It's another surprise to the industry. We don't need any more surprises,'' Malik told reporters at a press presentation of a new index devised by Houston-based Reliant to track natural gas consumption. Reliant is a big wholesale electricity and natural gas trader and as such both a competitor and trading counterparty of Enron. Malik said Enron executives had not mentioned the potential payment of $690 million during a conference call with analysts on Nov. 14, two days before the credit rating downgrade that triggered it on Nov. 12. Enron agreed to be acquired by smaller rival Dynegy Inc.(NYSE:DYN - news) for some $9 billion in stock on Nov. 9 after a collapse in investor confidence and snowballing financial problems brought Enron to the brink of collapse. Dynegy wrote clauses into its agreement with Enron that allow it to walk away from the deal if the problems at Enron turn out to be far worse than previously disclosed, but Dynegy executives have said it is unlikely those clauses will be invoked. Malik said that as a trading partner in wholesale energy markets, Reliant will seek further clarification from Enron about its financial position. ``My guess is that they are going to have a hard time coming up with the money,'' he said. Malik said Enron's bids and offers in the wholesale electricity and natural gas markets had become less competitive in recent weeks and that this had allowed Reliant and other companies to capture some market share from Enron. Reliant continued to do business with Enron, he said, but was exercising ``heightened caution''. Malik said Reliant had not hired any traders away from Enron recently and was currently well staffed. ``But you always look for good people, you always look for talent,'' he added.
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