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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Friday, February 13, 2004

Hawaiian shares down 15%

By Deborah Adamson
Advertiser Staff Writer

RONALD S. ORR

Shares of Hawaiian Airlines' parent plunged by 15 percent to close at $3.85 yesterday, one day after a group of investors bid to take the airline out of bankruptcy and cancel the stock.

Hawaiian Holdings' shares, which trade under the HA symbol, were the biggest loser on the American Stock Exchange yesterday.

The shares reached a 52-week high of $5.10 on Monday, but have fallen 25 percent since then. Volume yesterday came to 371,800 shares — or 129 percent higher than the average over the past 200 days.

The stock fell after the Wyoming-based Corporate Recovery Group LLC filed a bankruptcy reorganization plan for Hawaiian Airlines. CRG's plan was backed by Boeing Capital Corp., Hawaiian's largest creditor, and by Bruce Nobles, a former Hawaiian Airlines CEO.

Nobles helped guide Hawaiian out of its last bankruptcy reorganization in 1994. At that time the airline employees were given company stock in exchange for concessions in wages and benefits.

Ronald S. Orr, a CRG principal, said the Hawaiian Airlines stock would be canceled under his company's reorganization plan because creditors are first in line to be paid off and there aren't enough assets to do that.

The stock has no value when the liabilities exceed the assets, he said.

CRG is proposing to invest $30 million in Hawaiian Airlines in exchange for 90 percent ownership. After bringing the airline out of bankruptcy, CRG may opt for taking it public again, Orr said.

CRG's proposal is the first of what is expected to be several competing offers to reorganize Hawaiian Airlines. The courts and creditors will determine which bid wins.

In addition to Orr, CRG is made up of Allan Tessler, a co-founder of CBS MarketWatch, and Eugene Freedman, a former chief executive of Coopers & Ly-brand LLP. Tessler brought in other investors to raise the $30 million, according to Orr.

Reach Deborah Adamson at dadamson@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8088.