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.

Rescue managers appointed to the troubled Italian company Parmalat are set to ask creditor banks for new loans to keep its factories running.

PARMALAT Finanziaria’s former chief financial officers Fausto Tonna and Luciano Del Soldato are among six executives arrested by the Italian police today as part of a probe into the collapse of Italy’s largest food company, sources familiar with the investigation said.

PARMALAT Finanziaria SpA founder Calisto Tanzi is being probed for allegedly misappropriating about €800 million ($1 billion) from the company, a person familiar with the investigation said.

PARMALAT, the Italian dairy giant, said it will file for bankruptcy protection after the Italian government passed an emergency measure to speed the restructuring of the country’s biggest food company.