Canadian Tobacco Company Seeks US Releases in Foreign Bankruptcy

Canadian tobacco products maker JTI-Macdonald Corp. is seeking US recognition of its foreign restructuring to enforce a multibillion-dollar settlement with cigarette smokers that would also release from liability several other tobacco companies.

JTI-Macdonald aims to have a US bankruptcy court recognize its Canadian restructuring in which it and two other tobacco companies plan to ultimately pay 32.5 billion Canadian dollars ($23.7 billion) to claimants, according to a filing Wednesday in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

JTI-Macdonald, a private, indirect subsidiary of Japanese publicly traded company Japan Tobacco Inc., said the Chapter 15 would bring ...