 | | Featured Premium Content | | | | | Debtwire: Officers and Directors Beware, Make Sure to Give Value in Exchange for Those Releases
George Miller, the Chapter 7 trustee of former streaming on demand video and television services provider Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment (CSSE), recently sued several of the company’s former officers and directors for alleged breaches of fiduciary duty in connection with a pre-bankruptcy merger with Redbox Entertainment that saddled the company with an insurmountable amount of debt and led to its bankruptcy filing in 2024. In this article, the Debtwire legal analyst team provides an overview of the litigation and discusses how management can still face litigation risks even if they think they may be protected by releases. READ MORE | | | | | SPONSORED CONTENTPrivate Credit and BSLs: Friends or Foes? With private credit and broadly syndicated loans (BSLs) competing for dominance, the lending landscape is in flux. But can these markets ultimately work hand in hand? SRS Acquiom, in partnership with Debtwire, surveyed 200 senior executives from alternative asset management firms across Europe and the U.S. to uncover the true dynamics of these two critical markets. Download the Report | | |  | | Editor's Picks | | | | | Trump Policies Add to Farming Distress as Bankruptcies Increase
Family farm bankruptcies increased by 55% last year compared to 2023 and are trending even higher this year as farmers continue to grapple with depressed agricultural commodity prices and high input costs, Bloomberg Law reported. Unpredictable tariffs, immigration overhauls, federal program cuts and frozen Agriculture Department funding are now part of the discussions farmers are having as they seek financial help. READ MORE | | Rite Aid Prepares to Sell Itself in Pieces for Second Bankruptcy
Rite Aid Corp. is running low on cash and preparing to sell itself in pieces as it heads toward its second bankruptcy, less than a year after the drug-store chain’s emergence from chapter 11, Bloomberg News reported. The liquidity-strapped retailer is seeking a debtor-in-possession loan to help fund itself during the process, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing a private matter. The process could see some locations in certain regions sold to bidders, while those that aren’t sold would be wound down entirely. READ MORE | | Bankruptcy Judge Approves the Closure of Delaware County’s Crozer Hospitals
Crozer Health’s Delaware County hospitals will stop receiving patients arriving by ambulance with medical emergencies at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, but walk-ins will still be accepted at its emergency department for the next week under closure procedures approved Tuesday in bankruptcy court, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. A bankruptcy judge in Dallas approved the closures of Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland and Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park by the health system’s for-profit owner, Prospect Medical Holdings, at the end of a nearly 2½-hour hearing. READ MORE
MORE NEWS BELOW | | | | |  | | Upcoming Events | | | | | ABI Annual Spring Meeting Marriott Marquis
April 24-26 | Washington, D.C. | | ABI Rocky Mountain Bankruptcy Conference The Chateaux Deer Valley
June 11-13 | Park City, Utah | | | | | | |  | | Daily Roundup | | | | | Village Roadshow’s $417.5 Million Stalking-Horse Deal Approved
A bankruptcy judge yesterday approved a stalking-horse bid of $417.5 million from Alcon Entertainment for the library of Village Roadshow Entertainment Group (Vreg), which filed for bankruptcy last month, IMDB.com reported. The Delaware bankruptcy court said that the amount is the lowest acceptable for the assets, which includes a roster of 108 feature including the Matrix franchise and Joker, and exceeds the $365 million offer tabled by Content Partners. The library is said to generate $50 million a year. READ MORE | | The Container Store Lays off 2% of Workforce, Pauses Capital Projects
The Container Store this week cut 2% of its workforce, affecting fewer than 70 people, mostly in corporate positions, RetailDive.com reported. Roles include tech positions and some store operations, an effort to streamline the reporting structure, a company spokesperson said by phone. The retailer is also pausing capital projects as it works on a rebound from bankruptcy, the company said Monday. The Container Store filed under chapter 11 at the end of December and exited about a month later with nearly $88 million less in debt. READ MORE | | After Years of Financial Struggles, Mountain Empire Deemed High-Risk for Insolvency
Mountain Empire Unified School District — the sprawling San Diego County district that has struggled financially for years due to a range of problems shared with other rural districts — has been labeled high-risk for fiscal insolvency by the state agency that oversees school district finances, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. The district’s “high risk” label comes from its having had three consecutive so-called qualified interim reports. In other words, the district, on budget reports throughout the year, has indicated it might not meet budget needs for the current fiscal year or the next two. The district has been in deficit spending for the last three years but had begun a deficit-spending pattern even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the state analysis said. (Free registration required.) READ MORE | | U.S. Imposes Tariffs Up to 3,521% on Asian Solar Imports
The U.S. set new duties as high as 3,521% on solar imports from four Southeast Asian countries, delivering a win for domestic manufacturers while intensifying headwinds already threatening the country’s renewable power development, Bloomberg News reported. The duties announced Monday are the culmination of a yearlong trade probe that found solar manufacturers in Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand were unfairly benefiting from government subsidies and selling exports to the U.S. at rates lower than the cost of production. The investigation was sought by domestic solar manufacturers and initiated under former President Joe Biden. READ MORE | | Credit-Card Companies Brace for a Downturn
An economic downturn could mean more customers can’t pay their bills, and banks and credit card companies are trying to get ahead of it, according to their latest earnings reports, the Wall Street Journal reported. Already, delinquencies are rising and are now in line with levels from before the pandemic. JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup added money to their rainy day funds to cover expected future losses. Retail-card issuer Synchrony is tightening its lending standards. U.S. Bancorp is chasing a more affluent customer base that could better withstand a downturn. (Subscription required.) READ MORE | | | | |
