Enron Partnerships May Benefit Creditors

Enron Corp.’s creditors may be able to recover $500 million by unraveling six partnerships the company set up to help hide debts before spiraling into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a court-appointed investigator said.

“If all of these purported sales are re-characterized as loans, then the assets, currently valued in the range of $500 million, would be” accessible to help pay creditors, according to the report prepared by examiner Neal Batson and filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.

Enron spokeswoman Karen Denne declined to comment.