Bankruptcy Court Confirms Pittsburgh Corning Reorganization Plan

PPG Industries (NYSE: PPG) today announced that the United States BankruptcyCourt for the Western District of Pennsylvania issued a revised opinion andfinal order confirming the current Pittsburgh Corning plan of reorganization.The court previously issued an opinion and interim order confirming the planof reorganization on May 16, 2013. PPG and Corning Incorporated are each 50percent shareholders of Pittsburgh Corning, which filed for Chapter 11bankruptcy protection in 2000.Under the terms of the current plan, which includes the PPG asbestossettlement arrangement, all current and future personal injury claims againstPPG relating to exposure to asbestos-containing products manufactured,distributed or sold by Pittsburgh Corning will be channeled to a trust forresolution. The final confirmation order will be subject to a customaryappeals process and, if the confirmation order is upheld and all conditionsare met, the plan of reorganization would become effective. Under the plan ofreorganization, PPG and its participating insurers are to make their initialpayments to the trust 30 business days after the plan becomes effective andall conditions to funding have been met.Under the PPG settlement arrangement, PPG's obligation to the trust consistsof cash payments totaling approximately $825 million to be made according to afixed payment schedule over a period ending in 2023, about 1.4 million sharesof PPG stock or cash equivalent, and surrendering its shares in PittsburghCorning and Pittsburgh Corning Europe. At March 31, 2013, PPG's accruedliability related to the settlement arrangement, including the pre-tax presentvalue of the cash payments, totaled approximately $800 million of whichapproximately $550 million was the current portion. In addition to PPG'sobligation to the trust, the company's participating historical insurancecarriers are to make cash payments to the trust of approximately $1.7 billionin a series of payments ending in 2027.