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A new filing in the Alaska Dispatch News bankruptcy case is an Aug. 30 request to liquidate Alice Rogoff’s corporate holdings after the purchase agreement moves forward to save the ailing newspaper from the financial brink, the Alaska Journal of Commerce reported yesterday. The motion by the U.S. Trustee is to convert the case to a chapter 7 bankruptcy, after the sale is approved, expresses concern that the people and businesses owed money won’t receive any compensation, said Attorney Kathryn Perkins, acting for the U.S. Trustee Office. She makes the case that after the Sept. 11 sale closes, Rogoff “will face no reasonable likelihood of rehabilitation,” or legalese for restoring payments to those owed money. Under a deal struck between Rogoff and the Binkley Co., Rogoff is selling assets related to operating the ADN for $1 million. Bankruptcy Judge Gary Spraker is expected to approve the asset purchase agreement in a hearing set for Sept. 11.

Sempra Energy's deal to purchase power transmission company Oncor includes a commitment to pay off up to $3 billion in debt within seven years, a promise designed to calm jittery Texas regulators who must approve the takeover of a key piece of the state's power grid, Dow Jones Newswires reported yesterday. Oncor is one of the largest electricity distribution systems in the country, and Sempra is offering $9.45 billion for 80 percent of it. That 80 percent is in the hands of Energy Future Holdings Corp., the former TXU Corp., which filed for bankruptcy more than three years ago. On Sunday, Energy Future turned its back on a $9 billion buyout offer from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Energy Inc. and agreed to a buyout led by Sempra, which owns Southern California Gas Co. and San Diego Gas & Electric. One of the commissioners who will decide the fate of Sempra's takeover effort summoned Oncor Chief Executive Bob Shapard to a session, slated for next week, to answer questions about the proposed Sempra deal. Commissioner Ken Anderson of the Public Utility Commission of Texas wants to know when regulators will see details of the transaction. Anderson also wants to know how much Oncor has spent on lawyers over the two years as it sought to disentangle itself from its bankrupt owner, according to a letter he sent on Wednesday.

Northstar Offshore Ventures LLC, a Houston, Texas-based subsidiary of Orinoco Natural Resources, LLC, acquired certain oil and gas assets from bankrupt Northstar Offshore Group, LLC pursuant to a §363 sale, according to a press release. The sale order was approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Marvin Isgur on Aug. 2, and effective on Aug. 1, 2017. The assets sold are all located on the Outer Continental Shelf of the Gulf of Mexico and consist of eight producing fields, nine non-producing fields, and two primary term lease blocks. The purchase price was $13.25 million in cash plus other consideration. Northstar Offshore Group filed for chapter 11 protection on Dec. 2, 2016. Read more. 

Get a better understanding of what happens when an oil, gas or other natural resources company goes bankrupt. Order your copy of ABI's revised and expanded When Gushers Go Dry: The Essentials of Oil & Gas Bankruptcy, Second Edition. 

Solar Spectrum, a clean-energy company backed by private equity firm Northern Pacific Group, bought residential system provider Horizon Solar Power, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. They will sit together under the Sungevity brand, the Oakland, Calif.-based solar company that filed for bankruptcy in March. Terms weren’t disclosed in a statement yesterday. Solar Spectrum in April bought assets from Sungevity. The merger comes amid a turbulent time for the rooftop solar industry. Sungevity is among several companies that have gone bankrupt, collapsed or are winding down as they chase smaller margins. The rooftop solar industry may contract nationally for the first time in 16 years, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, reflecting a shift in sales strategies and increasing pressure from utilities to adjust incentives.

Lufthansa has received more German government support in its bid to take over substantial assets of insolvent rival Air Berlin, with German Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries saying she would welcome such a move, Reuters reported. "Lufthansa is already an aviation champion — its position can be strengthened further though," she said. However, a spokesman for the ministry later attempted to play down the remarks, saying that it had no preferred bidder. Industry rivals have voiced concerns at the way the insolvency process is being handled. Lufthansa, Germany's top carrier, cannot buy all of Air Berlin because it would give it a dominant position in Germany. But Lufthansa is first in line for talks, ahead of other potential bidders.

Sempra Energy said that it will buy Oncor for $9.45 billion in cash after Energy Future Holdings Corp, which indirectly owns Oncor, abandoned a deal to sell the power transmission company to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Reuters reported today. San Diego-based Sempra expects to own about 60 percent of a reorganized Energy Future after the transaction that is valued at $18.8 billion, including Dallas-based Oncor's debt, it said late on Sunday. In July, the energy unit of Berkshire Hathaway agreed to buy Oncor for $9 billion, but the deal ran into trouble after Energy Future's biggest creditor Elliott Management Corp opposed the sale arguing it undervalued Oncor. Elliott also tried to put together its own bid for $9.3 billion to buy Oncor. Separately, Berkshire said last week that it would not be raising its offer for Oncor, which delivers power to more than 3.4 million homes and businesses.