First Brands Windup Should Be Run by Trustee to Lower Costs, US Says

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Bankrupt auto-parts maker First Brands Group should be taken over by a court-supervised trustee who can finish liquidating its assets at a much lower cost than what the company’s high-priced advisers are charging, federal officials argued in a court filing.

Already, the company has paid out advisory fees of at least $245 million, documents show. A trustee “can effectively liquidate assets and pursue these litigation claims at a fraction of the existing costs,” the US Trustee, who acts as a watchdog in corporate bankruptcy cases, said in their request to convert First Brands to a so-called Chapter 7 case.