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Takata Corp.’s plan to shake off billions of dollars of defective product damages in bankruptcy passed preliminary court review Wednesday, but creditors are lining up to fight it, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Voting will begin soon on the chapter 11 creditor repayment plan proposed by Takata’s U.S. unit under a ruling from Judge Brendan Shannon. Once the votes are in, Takata must return to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., to seek final approval of its plan, an attempt to stretch scarce cash to deal with the damage from defective airbags. Takata is selling its non-airbag automotive parts business to Key Safety Systems Inc. for $1.6 billion. That is far from enough to make a dent in the airbag liabilities — car makers alone will sustain damages of more than $15 billion, according to estimates in court papers.

Revolution Capital Group of Los Angeles, has filed a $5.75 million bid to buy the Boston Herald and is asking a federal bankruptcy court to un- seat GateHouse Media’s initial $5 million offer as the auction’s stalking-horse bidder, the Boston Herald reported. Revolution’s bid is the second competitive offer made since the Herald declared bankruptcy last month, citing negative trends in newspaper advertising. The new offer tops GateHouse’s initial bid in pledging $3 million in cash, $2 million in severance for employees, and $750,000 in accrued paid time off for employees who are offered jobs to work after the sale. Revolution asked the court to throw out the $200,000 break-up fee requested by GateHouse in the event that a higher bidder is accepted and to name Revolution the new stalking-horse bidder because its offer is higher.

Oil and gas producer SandRidge Energy yesterday backed out from its plan to buy smaller rival Bonanza Creek Energy, giving in to pressure from activist investor Carl Icahn and other shareholders, Reuters reported. Oklahoma-based SandRidge, which emerged from bankruptcy last year, had said in November that it would pay $746 million for Bonanza Creek to expand its presence in the Denver-Julesburg Basin of Colorado. Icahn, who is the single largest shareholder with a 13.5 percent stake, had called the offer “value-destroying” and said it provides “no obvious synergies nor economies of scale.” Private investment firm Fir Tree Partners, which owns about 8.3 percent, had said the purchase would drain all of the oil and gas producer’s cash. After talking to its top shareholders, SandRidge board yesterday concluded that it would not receive approval for the transaction.

Bill Melvin, owner of Liquid Asset Partners, says the new operators of the Skip Barber Racing School will bring the famed academy back to its original glory, MLive.com reported. Liquid Asset Partners, which purchased the name and assets of the school in bankruptcy court last summer, has sold the school's brand to DeMonte Motorsports, an operator of racing schools based in Long Island, New York. Skip Barber Racing School, a 40-year-old institution whose alumni includes racing drivers Michael Andretti, Danica Patrick, Juan Pablo-Montoya, Bill Elliot, Jeff Gordon and Kyle Petty, was sold to Liquid Asset Partners for $830,000 under an agreement approved by a New York bankruptcy court on Tuesday, Aug. 8. Since purchasing the school, Melvin sold off most of its assets, which included a fleet of race cars and related equipment, in an online auction.

Houston-based Linn Energy Inc. inked another deal to sell off assets, one of many announced since the company exited bankruptcy in February, the Houston Business Journal reported. An undisclosed buyer will acquire Linn’s Oklahoma Waterflood and Texas Panhandle properties for $122 million, according to a press release. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2018. Combined, the properties consist of about 179,000 net acres in Oklahoma and Texas. They had third-quarter net production of about 5,200 barrels of oil equivalent per day and proved developed reserves of about 22.8 million barrels of oil equivalent. Their annualized field-level cash flow is about $21 million, not including about $4 million to $6 million in annual general and administrative expenses. In its press release, Linn notes that “the sale of these mature assets substantially reduces the company’s future abandonment liabilities and operating expenses.” As of early October, Linn had announced asset sales totaling more than $1.3 billion. Another divestiture was announced less than a month later.

Offshore driller Ocean Rig UDW Inc. is preparing to explore a sale amid pressure from some of its largest shareholders to review its strategic alternatives, Reuters. The move will be a key test of Ocean Rig’s value after it emerged from chapter 15 bankruptcy in September. Its business has suffered as low oil prices have made offshore drilling less economically attractive and pushed more oil exploration onshore. Based in Grand Cayman, Ocean Rig specializes in ultra-deepwater and harsh environment projects undertaken by oil exploration companies in the offshore drilling industry. Within a month of exiting bankruptcy, Ocean Rig’s largest shareholder, hedge fund Elliott Management Corp, called for the company to review strategic options, adding it planned to recruit the company’s second largest shareholder, BlueMountain Capital, in its efforts. It was joined a day later by Avenue Capital Group, the company’s fifth-largest shareholder, in demanding that it evaluates a possible sale. These three funds collectively own 39 percent of Ocean Rig’s stock.

Hawaiian Airlines' parent company agreed to purchase Island Air's operating certificate and other assets in a move that could save the failed company from liquidation, the Associated Press reported. The trustee overseeing Island Air's bankruptcy case filed a last-minute motion disclosing Hawaiian Holdings Inc.'s purchase. If the sale is approved, then the trustee's attorney Simon Klevansky said he would convert the case to a chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy. Hawaiian Holdings Inc. said it would buy the operating certificate for $450,000 and immediately provide cash advances to pay for chapter 7 administrative expenses. Hawaiian Holdings said it would buy other assets, such as ground-service equipment, furniture and frequent-flier lists, for $300,000.

Chinese dairy products maker Feihe International Inc. will acquire Vitamin World Inc out of bankruptcy for $28 million, after the U.S. nutritional supplements retailer received no other bids, Reuters reported. The deal makes Vitamin World, based in Holbrook, N.Y., the latest North American company in the vitamin sector to attract Chinese acquisition interest. Vitamin World, which filed for chapter 11 protection in September, has now canceled an auction for the company which had been scheduled for today. A bankruptcy court judge must still approve the sale to Feihe. Feihe plans to operate Vitamin World’s remaining 156 stores, the sources said. Vitamin World, formerly part of global vitamin maker NBTY Inc, shuttered nearly 200 of its retail outlets while in bankruptcy.