A US judge today approved the reorganisation plan of Global Crossing, paving the way for the telephone company to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy as early as next year.
Global Crossing still has to wait for regulatory approval for the sale of its high-speed network to two Asian investors before it can emerge from bankruptcy protection.
The company - which is still the subject of several federal probes into its accounting practices and possible insider trading by its chairman - has said it expects the regulatory approval to come within the next couple of months.
That would enable it to emerge from bankruptcy some time in the first quarter of 2003.
Bermuda-based Global Crossing filed one of the largest ever US bankruptcies in January, buckling under $12.4 billion in debt as it was hit by falling prices and a glut of high-speed fibre optic network capacity which it could not sell.