Barretts Minerals has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in an attempt to resolve and consolidate its talc liabilities.
WSJ reports that the company has secured US$30 million in financing to help it navigate the bankruptcy process and plans to sell its talc assets in order to fund a trust that will compensate current and future talc claimants.
Barretts faces some 550 personal injury lawsuits over talc’s alleged asbestos content, per WSJ, and, as Chief Restructuring Officer, David Gordon told the newspaper, ‘lacks the financial wherewithal to litigate against the mounting talc claims being asserted against it in the tort system’.
