Delphi defends asset sale to private-equity firm

NEW YORK (AP) — Auto parts maker Delphi Corp. defended the sale of a portion of its assets to a private equity firm Thursday, saying it has been open to other buyers since it first entered bankruptcy protection four years ago.

In a Thursday court filing, Delphi Vice President and Chief Financial Officer John Sheehan offered a chronology of Delphi’s dealings with Platinum Equity, the Beverly Hills, Calif.-based buyout firm that has agreed to buy some of Delphi’s assets as part of Delphi’s plan to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Sheehan’s chronology comes in response to an objection filed earlier this week by a group of lenders who have been funding Delphi during its bankruptcy process.

The lenders, who are owed more than $3.25 billion, called the proposed sale to Platinum a “secretly negotiated transaction” that violated Delphi’s obligations to maximize the value of the lenders’ investment.

Sheehan shot back in his filing Thursday, saying that Delphi had been open with the lenders from the start about its conversations with Platinum.

He said the lenders had not contributed enough liquidity to Delphi to keep it operating, forcing it to seek funding from other sources.