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HRG Still Paying for RadioShack Failure With Two Units on Hook

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HRG Group Inc., the holding company formerly known as Harbinger Group Inc., is still paying for the collapse of RadioShack Corp. as it seeks to recover from losses on loans two units made to the retailer before its bankruptcy filing, Bloomberg News reported today. Fidelity & Guaranty Life said on Wednesday that its participation in a $250 million loan to RadioShack arranged by HRG-owned Salus Capital Partners contributed to a $32 million impairment charge that wiped out its first-quarter profit. Harbinger bought FGL in 2011 under former Chairman Philip Falcone, then sold a stake of about 19 percent in an initial public offering in 2013. HRG said in a statement it’s considering the sale of the remaining stake. It’s also reviewing options for Salus that include a sale of the firm after the lender suffered losses linked to the RadioShack loan.

Aereo Settlement with Broadcasters Wins Court Approval

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Aereo Inc. won bankruptcy court approval of a settlement to pay CBS Corp. and other broadcasters $950,000 to resolve copyright claims totaling more than $99 million as the defunct online-TV service backed by Barry Diller winds down, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The deal, paying less than a penny on the dollar to creditors, will save Aereo from spending the rest of its dwindling cash on drawn-out litigation, Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane ruled yesterday. The settlement, which was backed by all the broadcasters, gives them less money than the lawyers and other bankruptcy experts are getting from the case. It also leaves Aereo with $811,000 to pay non-broadcast creditors with claims totaling $7.5 million.

Fredericks of Hollywood Can Move Ahead with Authentic Bid

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Frederick’s of Hollywood Inc. received bankruptcy-court approval Wednesday to move forward with a $22.5 million offer that would keep the iconic brand alive, the Wall Street Journal reported today. A bankruptcy judge signed off on the company’s proposed protections for the offer from Authentic Brands Group Inc., which will be tested at auction on May 28 should competing offers emerge. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross said at a hearing yesterday that the bid rules proposed by Frederick’s are “perfectly adequate” and “possibly in a form that would create some competitive bidding.” The offer from Authentic Brands is for Frederick’s intellectual property, some inventory and its e-commerce business, since the company entered bankruptcy having shut down its remaining store locations. The protections for that bid include a $775,000 termination fee, negotiated down from $850,000 with the committee representing unsecured creditors, and $300,000 in expense reimbursement.

Judge Delays Decision on Caesars Bankruptcy Protocols

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The bankrupt operating unit of casino company Caesars Entertainment Corp. agreed to grant creditors access to records through an independent examiner probing pre-bankruptcy deals, but a judge said that he will wait until Monday to approve the agreement, Reuters reported yesterday. Bankruptcy Judge Benjamin Goldgar said that he would also decide then whether to grant creditors' request for access to communications regarding the likelihood of success of the largest U.S. casino operator's restructuring plan. The casino operator, a unit of Caesars Entertainment Corp., went bankrupt in January with $18 billion in debt.

Analysis: RadioShack Leaves Few Remnants after Bankruptcy Sales

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RadioShack has nearly been picked clean, with corporate scavengers putting prices on just about everything of value left at the once-proud company, according to a Bloomberg News analysis yesterday. All that's left are the rights to reuse the name itself in the U.S. — and the names of millions of RadioShack shoppers. The defunct electronics retailer is selling those off in what should be the last major action in its bankruptcy proceedings. Bids are due today, and an auction will follow next week, if there are multiple bidders. A court hearing to approve the sale could take place on May 20. 

Judge Authorizes Voting on Revel Chapter 11 Plan

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The former owner of the Revel Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, N.J., won a bankruptcy judge's approval yesterday to begin soliciting votes on a creditor-repayment plan that divvies up proceeds from the sale of the 47-story resort to a Florida developer, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Gloria Burns signed off on ballots and a plain-language summary of the plan that will be sent to creditors as well as a voting deadline, overruling an objection from Revel's utility supplier.

Judge Orders Mediation in Energy Future Bankruptcy

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A bankruptcy judge ordered mediation to try to resolve how creditors of Texas' largest power company, Energy Future Holdings Corp., will divide payments that are a key part of ending its year-long bankruptcy, Reuters reported yesterday. The mediator will help parties determine if a $805 million proposed settlement contained in the company's bankruptcy exit plan is fair and how to divide the money. "I think it is appropriate and important to give mediation a chance to succeed," said Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi at a hearing yesterday. Energy Future filed for bankruptcy a year ago under the burden of $42 billion in debt and weak power prices. The company has proposed spinning off its unregulated Luminant power plants and TXU retail utility, a business known as TCEH, to investors holding $24 billion of secured debt. The parent company's creditors would be repaid through the sale of the parent's investment in Oncor, a regulated power distributor that is not bankrupt and is estimated to be worth at least $18 billion.

Energy Future Holdings Looks to Set Schedule for Court Consideration of Chapter 11 Exit

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Texas electricity giant Energy Future Holdings Corp. goes to court today to set a schedule for consideration of its chapter 11 exit plan and related proceedings, including for its 80 percent stake in its prized asset, Oncor, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. A cash-producing transmissions business that is not involved in the bankruptcy, Oncor is the focus of attention as Energy Future tries to work through its $42 billion debt load. The company wants to put the Oncor stake on the bankruptcy auction block while at the same time bargaining with creditors about an in-bankruptcy conversion to a real estate investment trust and takeover.

NII Holdings Completes Nextel Mexico Sale to AT&T

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NII Holdings, Inc. yesterday announced that it completed the sale of its Mexican operations to AT&T for an aggregate purchase price of $1.875 billion, according to a press release. After deducting Nextel Mexico's outstanding indebtedness net of its cash balance and applying estimates of other specified purchase price adjustments at closing, NII received $1.448 billion of net proceeds, including $187.5 million of cash placed in escrow to secure specified indemnity obligations. NII used $350.5 million of the net proceeds from the sale to repay in full the outstanding principal and accrued interest due under its debtor-in-possession loan that it borrowed in March 2015. A portion of the net proceeds from the transaction will be used to support NII's operations in Brazil and the remainder will be used to fund distributions to specified creditors, pursuant to the proposed plan of reorganization in the chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings of NII and certain of its subsidiaries, that is pending before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Retailer Cato Buys Rights to Cache Name

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Going-out-of-business sales at Cache Inc.'s some 200 stores may have signaled the end of the brick-and-mortar retailer, but the Cache name could live on following the sale of the women's clothing chain's intellectual property, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath on Tuesday signed off on the sale of Cache's intellectual property and customer lists to Cato Corp., a chain of more than 1,300 women's clothing and accessories stores. The intellectual property sale won't actually bring more money into Cache's dwindling bankruptcy coffers. That's because Great American Group, the liquidator that ran going-out-of-business sales at the chain, bought the IP rights for $2.5 million and then sold them to Cato. That price was included in the $18 million Great American paid for the rights to the sales, according to court filings.