AbitibiBowater appoints restructuring officer

Newsprint maker AbitibiBowater Inc. said Thursday it named former asset-management firm executive Bruce K. Robertson as its chief restructuring officer.

Robertson, who was a senior managing partner at Brookfield Asset Management Inc., will oversee the restructuring process as AbitibiBowater moves through the process of emerging from bankruptcy. AbitibiBowater said it has obtained a court order in the U.S. authorizing Robertson's appointment.

AbitibiBowater has faced collapsing demand for its newsprint as advertisers abandon newspapers for the Internet. The company, weighed down by $6 billion in debt, filed for bankruptcy-court protection in April. AbitibiBowater, which has administrative headquarters in Montreal, was created in 2007 in a combination of U.S.-based Bowater and Canada's Abitibi-Consolidated.

CEO David Paterson said Robertson's expertise in corporate finance and restructuring will help the company emerge stronger.

"I look forward to working closely with Bruce and the company's board, management and creditors to move, as quickly as possible, toward a negotiated settlement of claims and a comprehensive restructuring plan that will make AbitibiBowater a stronger, more sustainable organization," he said in a statement.