The Associated Press

HOUSTON - Enron Corp. filed a revised reorganization plan Thursday boosting the amount most creditors will receive and lowering to $63.6 billion its estimate of what it owes them.

Enron's initial plan, filed in July after five deadline extensions, said 80 percent of the more than 20,000 creditors would receive less than 20 cents on the dollar, in a range of 14.4 cents to 18.3 cents. The revised plan projects 16.6 cents to 22.5 cents on the dollar - two-thirds in cash and the rest in stock in new companies.

Stephen Cooper, a restructuring expert and Enron's acting chief executive, said the company is continuing efforts to seek creditor support for the plan, which will be presented to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez in New York in late October.

"This widespread support will help expedite this very complicated bankruptcy process," Cooper said Thursday.

In July, Enron estimated that creditors were owed $67 billion. That amount fell while the majority of anticipated recoveries rose as Gonzalez has approved reductions in the amount of outstanding claims, Enron spokeswoman Karen Denne said.

Enron went bankrupt in December 2001 after devastating revelations of hidden debt, inflated profits and accounting tricks that made the company appear much more financially successful than it was. Thousands of employees lost their jobs and stock that once traded as high as $90 per share became worthless.