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Premier Exhibitions Inc., the cash-starved company behind the traveling “Titanic” and “Bodies” exhibitions, is asking a bankruptcy judge for approval to sell some of its artifacts, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The company says a sale of some of the “Titanic” artifacts could fetch enough money to pay back all of its creditors, return all equity to shareholders, and even provide for funds for Premier through and after the bankruptcy process. Namely, Premier owes $12 million to unsecured creditors. Premier filed for bankruptcy protection last week after facing legal challenges and the early closure of its “Saturday Night Live” exhibition. Premier has developed other popular exhibits — among them “Bodies” and “The Discovery of King Tut” — but its first big hit was “Titanic.” Premier owns more than 5,500 artifacts it salvaged from the wreckage of the Titanic in a series of expeditions spanning more than 30 years.

U.K. sporting goods retailer Sports Direct International PLC is in talks with Modell’s Sporting Goods about a potential deal to acquire as many as 200 Sports Authority stores out of the retailer’s bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Sports Authority revealed in court papers filed on Friday that it is in advanced discussions regarding a potential sale of 100 to 200 of its stores. Bids for Sports Authority store leases are due on Thursday, and stores with leases that go unsold are in danger of going dark. With going-out-of-business sales in full swing at nearly 450 Sports Authority stores, the possible deal could be the last hope of saving anything of the ailing business. Sports Authority filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in March and is expected to wrap up its liquidation by the end of July.

Irving-based HCA North Texas, one of the region’s largest health care providers, has agreed to buy Forest Park Medical Center in Dallas for $135 million in a deal set to close in mid to late June, the Dallas Business Journal reported today. HCA’s purchase of the now-closed hospital is subject to certain closing conditions, including court approval of the sale and other regulatory approvals. HCA’s nearby Medical City Dallas Hospital continues to expand clinical services for both adults and children, said Erol Akdamar, HCA North Texas Division president. The former Forest Park facility may operate under the Medical City Dallas license. Read more. 

For more on hospital and health care insolvencies, be sure to pick up a copy of the ABI Health Care Insolvency Manual, Third Edition from the ABI Bookstore.

Emerald Oil Inc. snagged a $73 million bid from affiliates of institutional investor Crestline Management LP and private-equity firm Sole Source Capital LLC, setting the floor ahead of a July auction, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Court papers show the company is asking Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross to sign off on the stalking horse, or lead, bidder so it can move forward with its sale timeline. If that timeline is approved, other bids for Emerald would be due by July 6. If needed, an auction would be held July 11. A hearing to approve the sale would take place on July 14. Emerald said in court papers that the sale of all of its oil and gas assets, including leases and mineral contracts mainly in North Dakota, will reap the best recovery for the company’s creditors. Court papers show that since filing for bankruptcy, Emerald heard from nine interested bidders, and by the end of the process received four bids before selecting Sole Source and Crestline as the lead bidder. Read more. (Subscription required.) 

Listen to a panel of experts drill down through the issues involved in an oil and gas bankruptcy at ABI's 23rd Annual Northeast Bankruptcy Conference on July 14-17 at the Omni Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods, N.H. Register here.

Sports Authority Holdings Inc.’s going-out-of-business sales will begin this week after a bankruptcy judge signed off on a deal with a trio of liquidators, the Wall Street Journal reported today. At a hearing yesterday, Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath authorized the liquidator group — made up of Hilco Merchant Resources LLC, Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC and Tiger Capital Group LLC — to quickly launch the sales. In exchange for the right to run the sales, the liquidators, who prevailed over another liquidator group in an auction held last week, will pay a guaranteed 101 percent of the value of the inventory, of which 88 percent will be paid in cash, Jeremy Graves, attorney for Sports Authority said in court yesterday. Tiger Capital and Gordon Brothers were previously engaged to run the going-out-of-business sales at 142 of the 450 stores early on in Sports Authority’s bankruptcy proceeding. The latest round of sales will begin Thursday, according to a news release from the liquidator group, and will cover the chain’s remaining stores, around which it originally had high hopes of reorganizing.