Case No. 01-52840-399.United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Missouri, Eastern Division.
April 1, 2003
Michael A. Becker, Esq., Spencer Fane Britt Browne LLP, St. Louis, Missouri, Attorneys for Great Lakes Airgas.
John S. Meyer, Jr., Esq., Jennifer A. Merlo, Esq., Bryan Cave LLP, St. Louis, Missouri, Attorneys for defendant Victor Equipment Co., Inc., and the Debtors.
STIPULATED ORDER MODIFYING THE AUTOMATIC STAY
BARRY SCHERMER, Bankruptcy Judge
The Court having considered the motion (the “Motion”) of Great Lakes Airgas, n/k/a Airgas North Central, Inc. (“Airgas”) for relief from the automatic stay modifying the automatic stay as to the civil action pending in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois captioned Abraham Toma v. Great Lakes Airgas,n/k/a Airgas North Central, Inc. v. Victor Equipment Company andUnited Conveyor Supply Company, No. 02 L 006000 (the “Lawsuit”) to allow Airgas to proceed with a third-party complaint against Victor Equipment Company (“Victor”), one of the Debtors (Airgas and Victor will be collectively referred to as the “Parties”); and the Court having jurisdiction to consider the Motion and the relief requested therein; and due notice of the Motion and memoranda filed by the Parties having been given; and the Parties having agreed to modify the automatic stay; and sufficient cause appearing therefore, it is
ORDERED that, pursuant to Section 362(d)(1) of the Bankruptcy Code, the Motion is granted and the automatic stay is modified to allow the Lawsuit to proceed to final judgment in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois (the “Illinois Court”); and it is further
ORDERED that the Parties to the Lawsuit may proceed in the Illinois Court to liquidate any cross-claims or third-party claims against Victor, but shall take no action to collect
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any such claims from the Debtors or the estates of the Debtors, except as provided in the Debtors’ First Amended and Restated Plan of Reorganization Under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, filed January 17, 2003 (the “Plan”) and in the Disclosure Statement of Thermadyne Holdings Corporation and its subsidiaries dated November 18, 2002 (the “Disclosure Statement”) without further order of this Court; and it is further
ORDERED that the Holdback Amount, as defined in Section 5.5(a) of the Plan, to be reserved for distribution purposes pursuant to the Debtors’ proposed Plan, for the aggregate of all the claims, cross claims and third-party claims asserted against the Debtors in the Lawsuit shall be capped at $50,000. The establishment of the Holdback Amount is not intended to and does not limit Victor’s liability in the Lawsuit and is without prejudice to the Parties’ rights to recover against applicable insurance. Nothing in this Order is intended to reduce or limit Airgas’ rights and remedies under the Plan in any way.
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