CertainTeed Loses Bid to Toss Asbestos Victims’ Suit Over Assets

An asbestos victim group will get to proceed with a lawsuit to consolidate building material maker CertainTeed LLC’s assets with those of its bankrupt unit that was spun off to handle related litigation.

Judge J. Craig Whitley’s ruling to deny the spinoff DBMP LLC’s motion to dismiss gives the victim plaintiffs a chance to seek compensation from a greater pool of assets.

“Substantive consolidation” of a bankrupt company with a non-bankrupt company—in this case, CertainTeed, a subsidiary of Saint-Gobain SA—is rare, said the judge from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of North Carolina at a hearing Feb. ...