 | | Featured Premium Content | | | | | BankruptcyData: Bausch Health Companies Inc. Continues to Explore Efforts to Address Debt
Bausch Health Companies Inc. on Jan. 22 replaced its legal and financial advisors, switching from White & Case LLP and Houlihan Lokey to Proskauer Rose LLP and Evercore Inc., respectively. This change accompanies the company's ongoing efforts to address its approximately $20 billion debt and explore the potential sale of its Bausch + Lomb vision care subsidiary, which has a market capitalization of nearly $8 billion. This pursuit of a sale follows Bausch Health's rejection of restructuring proposals from bondholders, including Apollo Global Management and GoldenTree Asset Management in October 2024, one of which involved a debt-for-equity swap in Bausch + Lomb. Bausch + Lomb is also working with Goldman Sachs to assess potential buyer interest. While confirming to the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) that separating Bausch + Lomb is a strategic goal, Bausch Health emphasized that no final decision on a sale has been reached. READ MORE | | |  | | Editor's Picks | | | | | Hydrogen-Truck Maker Nikola Nears Bankruptcy Filing
Nikola, the much-hyped hydrogen-truck maker that was briefly valued more than Ford Motor, is nearing a bankruptcy filing, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Phoenix-based Nikola has been working with its law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman to explore options that could include a sale or restructuring of the company in bankruptcy. READ MORE | | Private Credit Lenders to Take Over Zips Car Wash Through Bankruptcy
Car wash operator Zips Car Wash has filed for bankruptcy with a plan to hand over control of the business to its private credit lenders, Bloomberg News reported. The company filed for chapter 11 in Dallas on Wednesday with $654 million of total funded debt, according to court documents. Through the restructuring, Zips plans to reduce its debt by about $279 million and secure $15 million of new capital, it said in a separate statement. It expects to emerge from bankruptcy in about two to three months. READ MORE | | Ohio Hospital Files for Bankruptcy
The Bellevue Hospital in Toledo, Ohio, has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and plans to be acquired by Sandusky, Ohio-based Firelands Health, according to Becker's Hospital CFO Report. The restructuring and acquisition will allow the hospital to meet its financial obligations while continuing to provide care to patients in the community. READ MORE
MORE NEWS BELOW | | |  | | Upcoming Events | | | | | 33rd Annual Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court Awards Gala New York Marriott Downtown
March 3 | New York | | ABI Annual Spring Meeting Marriott Marquis
April 24-26 | Washington, D.C. | | | | |  | | Daily Roundup | | | | | Prospect Medical Signs Temporary Deal to Avert Hospital Closures
Bankrupt health system Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. won court approval to hand operations of its Pennsylvania hospitals to a state-backed receiver, a last minute deal that averts potential closures of critical health centers, Bloomberg News reported. The agreement approved Thursday by Judge Stacey Jernigan transfers operation of the hospitals from Prospect to advisory firm FTI Consulting Inc., which has been tapped by Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday as a private trustee to oversee hospitals in the state. Prospect is facing “dire liquidity†problems and the deal is a temporary measure that will keep the hospitals open while Prospect searches for new owners, Judge Jernigan said. READ MORE | | NoCo Hospitality Files for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
NoCo Hospitality LLC — which managed a variety of high-end nightlife venues in and around downtown Austin — has filed for bankruptcy, the Austin Business Journal reported. The company filed chapter 7 bankruptcy Jan. 31 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas, citing about $2.35 million in unsecured claims. (Subscription required.) READ MORE | | Oaktree in Talks With B. Riley to Replace Nomura’s Loan
Oaktree Capital Management LP, the investment firm led by Howard Marks that made its name lending to troubled companies, is in talks to replace a group led by Nomura Holdings Inc. as the main lender to B. Riley Financial Inc., Bloomberg News reported. B. Riley, which has lost most of its value since 2023, is looking for successors to the Nomura-led syndicate as part of a turnaround plan that may see B. Riley spin off its broker-dealer. READ MORE | | Employers Added 143,000 Jobs in January, and Unemployment Edged Down to 4%
The U.S. economy added 143,000 jobs in January and the unemployment rate edged down to 4%, the Labor Department said today, the Wall Street Journal reported. Sectors including healthcare and retail added jobs. Employment declined in mining and oil and gas extraction. (Subscription required.) READ MORE | | Layoffs Hit Contractors and Small Businesses as Trump Cuts Take Effect
Private-sector employers and nonprofits are starting to lay off workers as a result of the Trump administration’s sweeping cuts and funding freezes, unleashing a wave of job losses that economists say could pick up steam in the coming weeks, threatening the broader labor market, the Washington Post reported. The tally appears to be about several thousand private-sector jobs lost in the past two weeks since federal funding cuts and freezes took hold. More than 7.5 million Americans work in jobs directly connected to the federal government, according to the Brookings Institution, as contractors or grant workers — some of whom are already out of a job. And there are millions more who work in positions indirectly connected to federal funding delays. READ MORE | | Commentary: Fannie Mae Underpins the Mortgage Market. Should the Government Sell It?
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two giant mortgage finance firms, have been controlled by the federal government for nearly 17 years, but a long-dormant idea of making them private businesses is starting to make the rounds in Washington again, the New York Times reported. Scott Turner, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, said in an interview this week that coordinating the effort to privatize the two firms would be his priority. One of President Trump’s backers, the hedge fund investor William A. Ackman, is calling on the president to quickly move forward on the privatization. But Fannie and Freddie underpin the nation’s $12 trillion mortgage market, so they need to be handled with care. Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary, said last month that any plan for ending the so-called conservatorship of the two firms “should be carefully designed and executed.†READ MORE | | Preliminary-Round Judges Needed for the Duberstein National Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition!
The Duberstein National Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition, now in its 33rd year and widely recognized as one of the nation’s preeminent moot court competitions, will be held in New York March 1-3, 2025. Fifty-three teams from law schools across the country will compete through written briefings and oral argument. Please find the fact pattern by clicking here. Volunteers are needed to judge the preliminary rounds (sign up here) of the competition. Click here for more information and to volunteer. | | | | |
