Intermet Corp., which operates a cast-metal plant in Radford, announced Wednesday that earlier plans to reorganize have become effective and the company has emerged from bankruptcy court protection.

The manufacturer of cast-metal components filed for voluntary Chapter 11 reorganization with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of Michigan in September 2004.

The company's headquarters are in Troy, Mich.

Intermet spokesman Mike Kelly said there would be no changes to either the New River Foundry in Radford or the Archer Creek Foundry in Lynchburg as a result of the announcement.

"As far as local plants go, they will continue with normal operations, which is the manufacturing of cast-metal components primarily for the automotive industry," Kelly said.

The Radford plant has about 300 employees.

In connection with the emergence, Intermet entered into a $285 million credit facility with Goldman, Sachs & Co. as the lead arranger. Intermet's former common stock has been canceled and shares of its new common stock will be issued to its pre-petition unsecured creditors in accordance with plan terms.

Intermet has raised $75 million through a rights offering pursuant to which electing pre-petition unsecured creditors purchased shares of common stock of the reorganized company. And, Intermet said it would file Wednesday the necessary paperwork to deregister as a public company.

Intermet's plan of reorganization also provides holders of various claims with common stock or cash distribution.

"We are pleased to have successfully completed our restructuring process," Chief Executive Officer Gary Ruff said in a news release. "The entire Intermet team can now focus its complete attention and efforts on manufacturing castings and serving our customers."

Intermet Corp. manufactures components for the automotive, commercial-vehicle and industrial industries. The company has about 5,200 employees worldwide.