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Troubled Mexican homebuilder Geo (GEOB.MX) said on Thursday it has filed for bankruptcy after gaining the support of the majority of its creditors in a deal that will replace most of its debt with stock.

Geo was once Mexico's biggest homebuilder with sales of 55,485 homes in 2012, but it has struggled with a heavy debt load and slumping home sales that pushed it to stop making debt repayments last year.

Creditors Banamex, HSBC, Banorte, Santander, Inbursa and BBVA Bancomer agreed to the bankruptcy plan, Geo said in a statement on Thursday. The deal is a so-called prepackaged bankruptcy that can shorten the duration of the legal process.

In a separate statement, the company said it reached a deal with holders of more than 50 percent of its debt, including a group of investors who hold just over 27 percent of bonds due on September 25, 2014, June 30, 2020 and March 27, 2022.

Under the restructuring plan, bondholders will end up with 88 percent of the company in stock, current stockholders will be diluted to an 8 percent stake while management will hold 4 percent of stock.

The deal also includes a plan to issue 4.75 billion Mexican pesos ($358 million) in new stock in the company once the restructuring is complete.

Orlando Loera, one of Geo's advisers, said in a telephone interview that the proceedings could be finished within four to six months. He said most of the company's debt would be converted into stock with another part restructured into debt that will mature in between seven to 10 years.

The company had 13.81 billion pesos ($1.04 billion) in net debt at the end of the first quarter of 2013, with more than half in U.S. dollar bonds due in 2014, 2020 and 2022.

Geo has not reported financial statements to Mexico's stock exchange since the first quarter of 2013. Trading of its shares was suspended in July.

Geo blamed its problems on a shift in government policy over the last few years that prioritized subsidies for apartment purchases by new homebuyers, damping sales of cheap houses built by Geo and closest rivals Homex (HOMEX.MX) and Urbi (URBI.MX).

Urbi shares were also suspended after the company failed to report second-quarter results.

Shares of Homex, formerly Mexico's No.2 homebuilder, were suspended after the company said it could not report fourth-quarter results by the end of February.(GNN INT) (Reuters)

(Reporting by Gabriela Lopez and Elinor Comlay; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Matt Driskill)

http://www.globalnewsnetwork.tk/2014/03/in-china-michelle-obama-to-stay-firmly.html

U.S. first lady Michelle Obama eats with school kids after they harvested vegetables from the summer crop from inside the White House Kitchen Garden on the South Lawn in Washington, May 28, 2013.

U.S. first lady Michelle Obama is expected to steer clear of controversial issues such as human rights when she visits China this week but her trip could help advance a top item on her husband's foreign policy agenda: deepening Washington's ties with Beijing.

The week-long trip marks only the third foreign solo trip for Obama, who has cultivated a self-described "mom in chief" image, putting her energy into raising her daughters Malia, 15, and Sasha, 12, and signature domestic policy issues such as combating childhood obesity.

She has joked that her motto during her husband's White House tenure has been to "do no harm."

In keeping with that cautious approach, the White House said Obama's message on the trip will focus on cultural ties between the two countries and "the power and importance of education" for young people in both countries.

But her trip, which will be front-page news in China and closely parsed by media, will carry important symbolic value.

"There's no better surrogate for a president overseas than their spouse," said Anita McBride, who was chief of staff to former first lady Laura Bush.

McBride said Obama's visit with Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan can send a powerful diplomatic message, even if what they discuss has little to do with pressing bilateral issues.

"Those are images that convey a relationship," she said.

Obama will also visit with students and schools, and take her daughters to see the famous Terracotta Warriors.

Since taking office in 2009, President Barack Obama has put a high priority on bolstering the U.S. relationship with China. That goal could take on even greater significance given the deep rift has opened up between the United States and Russia over the Ukraine crisis.

Former first ladies Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton used their time in the international spotlight to forcefully elevate tough questions about human rights abroad.

In 1995, Hillary Clinton, wife of former President Bill Clinton, criticized China's human rights record in a speech at a United Nations conference in Beijing.

But it is unlikely that Michelle Obama, a Harvard-educated lawyer, will follow in their path.

"She has chosen a more traditional, non-confrontational role as a first lady," said Laura van Assendelft, a political scientist at Mary Baldwin College. "Other first ladies have pushed those boundaries. Michelle Obama is not pushing any boundaries."

As first lady, Obama traveled to Mexico in 2010 and to Africa the following year. A private trip to Spain in 2010 with daughter Sasha backfired when she was criticized for spending taxpayer funds on security for what amounted to a holiday.

Now that her husband is in his second term, and does not have to worry about being reelected again, Michelle Obama may take more foreign trips to advance policy goals, McBride said.

"You begin thinking about what you want to leave behind," said McBride, now at American University in Washington.

Laura Bush traveled to 67 countries to talk about human rights and global health issues during the four years that McBride worked with her, including a notable visit to a refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border to shine a spotlight on conditions there.

THREE GENERATIONS

Obama will deliver another strong, if unspoken, message by taking her daughters and her mother, Marian Robinson, with her to China, said Robert Daly, director of the Wilson Center's Kissinger Institute on China and the United States.

Robinson lives with the Obama family in the White House.

"The Chinese are very big on three generations under one roof. That is one of the cornerstones of their culture," Daly said. "That will play very well in the Chinese media."

Pictures of the three generations of four strong women will make a statement about women's equality and opportunity, and shatter a stereotype long held by Chinese about how Americans mistreat their elders, he added.

Obama's visit comes before her husband visits Asian allies Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines in late April, a trip where the maritime dispute with China is expected to loom large.

China and Japan each claim sovereignty over a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, and China is also fighting over territory in the South China Sea with the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.

Ahead of the president's trip, the White House will want "sweetness and light" from Michelle Obama's China visit, said Dan Blumenthal, an adviser on China issues in the former George W. Bush administration.

"She can just be who she is, and it's a win. She doesn't have to carry a tough message," said Blumenthal, now director of Asian studies at the American Enterprise Institute think tank.(GNN INT)(Reuters)

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Caren Bohan and Marguerita Choy)

Mexico homebuilder Geo files for bankruptcy

In China, Michelle Obama to stay firmly in 'mom in chief' mode

Mexico homebuilder Geo files for bankruptcy

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In China, Michelle Obama to stay firmly in 'mom in chief' mode