Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines, which sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday, have retained a subsidiary of Epiq Systems Inc. to administer their reorganization proceedings.
Epiq, based in Kansas City, Kan., confirmed that its BSI subsidiary, which administers Chapter 11 cases, had been hired to serve as the bankrupt airlines' administrator.
Based on pre-petition assets, Delta represents the eighth-largest bankruptcy ever filed and Northwest the 16th largest.
Analyst Peter J. Heckmann of Stifel Nicolaus & Co. on Thursday called the retention of BSI by the airlines ?two significant wins for Epiq and the largest cases won since Epiq?s Poorman-Douglas subsidiary was retained in the United Airlines case in December 2002.?
Stifel Nicolaus, which makes a market in Epiq stock, recently upgraded the stock from "market perform" to "outperform/buy." Shares in Epiq closed Friday at $20.45, down 6 cents on the Nasdaq.
This week, Epiq acquired Novare Inc. in a cash transaction whose terms were not disclosed. Epiq said Novare had annual operating revenue of less than $1 million.
Novare provides services related to preference, claims reconciliation and liquidating trustee matters for Chapter 11 reorganization plans. Epiq said it would operate Novare as a wholly owned subsidiary from its Chicago location.
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