Calpine says most creditors vote for Chapter 11 exit plan

Calpine Corp., preparing for a court battle next week over how much the power company is worth, said 91% of its creditors voted in favor of its plan to exit bankruptcy protection.

“Calpine is now poised to emerge from bankruptcy as a financially stable, stand-alone company with an improved competitive position in the energy industry,” Chief Executive Robert P. May said in a statement. “As underscored by the support of many of our creditors, we believe our plan represents a fair and equitable outcome for all the creditors involved.”

The San Jose-based company said late Wednesday that the voting results indicated “broad-based” support for its Chapter 11 plan, which is expected to repay unsecured creditors about 96.7% on their claims.

Of more than 2,400 ballots cast, 2,270, or 91%, of all voting creditors “aggregated across classes” voted for the plan, Calpine said. It said 78%, or $12.7 billion, of the total amount voted by creditors across classes voted to accept the plan.

Still, the company failed to win enough support for its turnaround plan from 5 out of 10 creditor classes based on the amount of claims voted in each class. Calpine general noteholders voted only 35% of their claims, or $611.7 million, for the plan, according to papers filed Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. Several other classes didn’t vote sufficiently in favor of the plan for approval.