 | | Featured Premium Content | | | | | WSJ Pro Bankruptcy: Indoor Farms Struggle to Sustain Momentum as Funding Dries Up
From venture capital and private-equity firms to celebrities such as Justin Timberlake and Martha Stewart, many meal tickets backing the indoor growing of fruits and vegetables have experienced wilting returns, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. What not long ago amounted to billions of dollars in U.S. venture capital pouring into indoor farming — $2.1 billion in 76 deals in 2021 — has dropped to millions. After falling to $277 million last year, activity has dried up so far this year to five deals totaling $57 million, data tracker PitchBook says. The bubble-bursting coincides with bankruptcies of Plenty, which had been backed by SoftBank, Walmart and One Madison Group, and at least five other indoor farming businesses including one that filed in April. READ MORE | | | | | SPONSORED CONTENTDefault Rate May Not Tell the Whole StoryThe expected increase in loan defaults in 2024 never materialized. But while corporate credit health appears strong on the surface, there are signs of potential weakness underneath. This article examines current trends to help you stay informed about silent loan defaults, private credit default trends, impacts on maturities, and more. DOWNLOAD THE ARTICLE | | ABI@NCBJ
ABI is honored to be hosting a reception at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, at NCBJ in Chicago, as well as educational sessions on Friday, Sept. 19. To register for the conference, please click here. At NCBJ, ABI also will be handing out the 2025 Judge William L. Norton Jr. Judicial Excellence Award. Nominations for that award will be accepted until July 15, 2025, and can be submitted at arin.berkson@thomsonreuters.com. | | |  | | Editor's Picks | | | | | CareerBuilder Says AI, Hiring Slowdown Crippled Monster Merger
The merger of job recruitment sites CareerBuilder and Monster failed, in part, because of a slowdown in corporate hiring and competition from hiring tools driven by artificial intelligence, the company said in a bankruptcy court filing yesterday, Bloomberg News reported. The joint venture backed by Apollo Global Management Inc. filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware earlier this week, reporting $2.2 million in cash. CareerBuilder and Monster have lined up a $20 million loan from JMB Capital Partners Lending to fund itself as it pursues asset sales in the coming weeks. (Subscription required.) READ MORE | | Judge Sets Deadlines for Settlement, Vote in Archdiocese of New Orleans Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy Judge Meredith Grabill has laid out a timeline for the next steps in the long-running Archdiocese of New Orleans bankruptcy, a process that involves a vote of abuse survivors and a trial later this year to determine whether the long-running case can be successfully resolved, NOLA.com reported. During a court hearing yesterday, Judge Grabill tentatively scheduled the trial for Nov. 12. Before such a trial can take place, however, more than two-thirds of abuse survivors in the case, as well as other groups of creditors, must vote to approve the plan. Grabill has set a July 15 deadline for the plan, which hasn't been finalized, to be filed with the court. (Subscription required.) READ MORE | | Minnesota Retailer Legacy Toys Files for Bankruptcy, Aims to Keep Remaining Stores Open
Minnesota toy retailer Legacy Toys, which started in Ely and expanded to the Twin Cities, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after a series of financial blows, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported. Legacy, based in Edina, Minn., has closed three stores over the past 18 months, but it still has outlets in Ridgedale, Southdale, Rosedale and the Miller Hill and West Acres malls in Duluth and Fargo, respectively. Tho five stores left will remain open. (Free registration required.) READ MORE
MORE NEWS BELOW | | | | |  | | Upcoming Events | | | | | ABI Northeast Bankruptcy Conference & Consumer ForumOmni Mt. Washington Resort
July 14-16 | Bretton Woods, N.H. | | ABI Southwest Bankruptcy Conference The Ritz-Carlton Bacara
August 25-27 | Santa Barbara, Calif. | | | | |  | | Daily Roundup | | | | | Wisconsin Man Sentenced to 7 Years for Bankruptcy Fraud and Contempt of Court
Bernard Seidling of Hayward, Wis., was sentenced on Wednesday by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to seven years in federal prison for bankruptcy fraud and criminal contempt of court. He was also ordered to pay a $500,000 fine. A jury convicted Seidling of these crimes after a four-day trial in federal court in Madison. Seidling filed for bankruptcy in 2022. On the schedules he filed at the beginning of the case, Seidling falsely stated he had no real estate, retirement accounts, trusts, partnerships, or business-related property, and that he had only one bank account with a balance of $195. READ MORE | | Saginaw Doctor Files Federal Court Motion, Avoiding $551,800 Defamation Payment
After several delays, Dr. David L. Stockman was on the cusp of facing a judge’s order to pay six figures to another doctor he allegedly defamed. But at the last minute, Stockman filed a motion to have the case removed from state court to federal court, preventing him from paying the sum, MLive.com reported. Saginaw County Business Judge M. Randall Jurrens was to preside over a hearing on Monday, June 23, in which he was likely to enter a judgment against Stockman and one of his many entities, Michigan Institute of Forensic Science and Medicine (MIFSM). The judgment would have been for Stockman/MIFSM to pay Dr. Russell L. Bush a sum of $551,800. (Subscription required.) READ MORE | | SEC, Ripple Wants to Settle Crypto Lawsuit, But U.S. Judge Rebuffs Them
A federal judge on Thursday rejected an unusual joint motion by Ripple Labs and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to endorse the cryptocurrency company's reduced $50 million fine to settle a civil lawsuit over the sale of unregistered securities, Reuters reported. U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan chastised both sides for claiming that their settlement in March should excuse Ripple from honoring her permanent injunction against violating the law. READ MORE | | Crypto Industry Moves Into the U.S. Housing Market
The nation’s largest mortgage finance firms will begin accepting crypto as an asset on a mortgage application, another significant step by the Trump administration to bring digital currencies into mainstream finance, the New York Times reported. This week, President Trump’s housing director, William Pulte, said he would direct Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — the nation’s big mortgage finance firms — to consider home buyers’ crypto investments as part of their overall wealth in assessing whether they can afford a mortgage. Traditionally, a home buyer’s cash savings and stock investments are what mortgage lenders consider. READ MORE | | | | |
