Parmalat investors to fight Italy’s bankruptcy law over debt repayment

A GROUP of investors in Parmalat, the troubled Italian dairy giant, are challenging Italy’s new bankruptcy law to ensure bondholders get a say in the company’s debt repayment.

The group of institutional investors, pension funds and private companies invested a combined €300 million in Parmalat bonds.

They filed a suit with a Rome administrative court to wrest influence from Industry Minister Antonio Marzano and Enrico Bondi, Parmalat’s government-appointed bankruptcy administrator, in favour of a bankruptcy court. The Italian government issued an emergency decree in December, changing the country’s bankruptcy laws to speed up Parmalat’s restructuring.