Holders of Hawaiian shares gain support

By Debbie Sokei
Advertiser Staff Writer

The Securities and Exchange Commission threw its support behind shareholders of Hawaiian Holdings Inc., the parent company of Hawaiian Airlines, saying the shares have value and should not be canceled when the airline comes out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The SEC, which protects the interest of shareholders in publicly held companies, said in this case shareholders are not being represented and should be allowed to form a special committee.

"We believe the SEC is incorrect," said former Hawaiian Airlines CEO Bruce Nobles, who is part of a group of investors that want to take over Hawaiian and cancel the shares. "The claims against the company are greater than the value of the company, and therefore we continue to believe the company is insolvent and the equity in the company has no value."

A hearing on the matter is set for Monday in bankruptcy court.

Nobles' group, the Corporate Recovery Group LLC, a turnaround company based in Wyoming, filed one of three reorganization plans proposing to take Hawaiian out of bankruptcy. More plans are expected to be filed. A winning bid to take the airline out of Chapter 11 will be selected Aug. 31.

A group of minority shareholders asked the bankruptcy court to approve a shareholders' committee. The group includes Lonestar Partners LP, Triage Capital Management LP, Kaua'i resident Norm Caris and Hawaiian Airlines employees who own shares. The group owns between 20 percent to 25 percent of Hawaiian Holdings stock.

Hawaiian Airlines filed for bankruptcy in March 2003 after John Adams, the CEO at the time, was unable to reach an agreement with Boeing to reduce leases on Hawaiian's fleet.

Reach Debbie Sokei at 525-8064 or dsokei@honoluluadvertiser.com.