Liquidation

California regulators expect to seek court permission today to liquidate TMIC Insurance, the all but moribund mortgage insurance unit of Ticor, a major Los Angeles-based financial services company. Insurance Commissioner Roxani M. Gillespie said Thursday that the court papers will be filed today and that a court hearing on the request has been set for April 6 in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The hearing will explore alternatives to liquidating the struggling company.

Pillowtex Corp., the maker of Royal Velvet and Fieldcrest towels and bedding, closed 16 plants and dismissed 6,450 workers, the largest firing in U.S. textile history, as the firm seeks to liquidate its assets under bankruptcy protection. The Chapter 11 filing is the second in less than three years for Kannapolis, N.C.-based Pillowtex, which came out of bankruptcy protection in May 2002. Pillowtex said that GGST, a company formed by SB Capital Group, Gibbs International, Gordon Bros.

Debt-burdened Hooker Corp., an Australian property group that owns the exclusive Bonwit Teller department stores in the United States, began liquidating Wednesday as banks pressed the company for overdue payments. Hooker said in a statement Wednesday night that it had no choice but to go into the initial stages of forced asset sales after a task force of more than 40 banks Tuesday abruptly ended an agreement on a four-month debt repayment moratorium.

Three creditors for online auction company 2TheMart.com Inc. in Irvine have petitioned the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to force the company into involuntary liquidation. The company owes a total of $546,921 to three creditors, according to a petition filed Thursday. After an outside auditor for the company resigned in March, citing a lack of confidence in management, 2TheMart's top two executives stepped down. In December, the company filed suit against GoToWorld.com Inc.

CommerceBancorp, seized last week by regulators, announced late Wednesday that it has filed for liquidation under Chapter 7 of the federal bankruptcy code. William E. Langston, the bank's vice chairman, would not comment on the announcement. A lawyer for the bank said in a news release that the company "does not anticipate that any distributions will be available for the shareholders." In its bankruptcy filing, CommerceBancorp listed liabilities of nearly $12.

Bankruptcy! Immediate Liquidation! Ordered to Sell Out! To furniture liquidator Eugene H. Rosenberg, the promoter for RB Furniture's bankruptcy sale, such howls of distress mean crowds of shoppers and big money. More pain, more gain. To Ventura County Deputy Dist. Atty. Greg Brose, RB Furniture's cries have the ring of deception. Sure, the Irvine-based 29-store chain is in bankruptcy proceedings. But the "immediate liquidation" is now in its fourth month.

United Press International on Monday told its 350 union employees that the money-losing news service will be liquidated later this month unless they accept 35% pay cuts for 90 days. Management of the news service, which is a unit of New York-based Infotechnology Inc., said the cuts were needed to make UPI attractive to the six bidders that management says are considering purchasing the organization.

Bernard B. Katz, the Los Angeles financier who built two fast-growing high-tech companies that subsequently flopped, has sued Bank of America and Downey Savings & Loan Assn. in Costa Mesa for $315 million, alleging breach of contract in their liquidation of a third company in which Katz owns a 45% interest. The financial institutions are trying to recover $15 million in loans made to Helionetics of Irvine, a once-soaring laser firm that Katz bankrolled.

Officials of Calabasas-based Nassi Group said Thursday that they are close to signing a deal with Montgomery Ward Inc. to help the national retail chain liquidate its merchandise as it goes out of business. Even though the agreement has not been finalized, Nassi Group and Boston-based Gordon Bros.

Doerring & Associates, accused by regulators of fraud and securities violations for misappropriating real estate partnership trust funds, can no longer generate enough income to meet expenses and should be liquidated, according to documents filed in federal court Thursday. The liquidation process of Doerring's 32 properties, owned by more than 80 limited partnerships, will take about 18 months, according to documents filed by Thomas F.