Imerys Talc Beats Insurers’ Bid to Toss Bankruptcy Proceedings

Imerys Talc America Inc. defeated insurers’ efforts to dismiss the former talc producer’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy, securing a court ruling to continue negotiating a deal with asbestos exposure claimants.

There is no basis to end Imerys’ bankruptcy proceedings while the company is still pursuing a settlement to resolve thousands of claims that its talc products caused ovarian cancer and mesothelioma, Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein of the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware ruled at a hearing Monday.

The debtors—Imerys Talc America and other US-based subsidiaries of France-based minerals producer Imerys SA—have shown reasonable likelihood of reaching a multibillion ...