PWM Property Management LLC, the bankrupt owner of 245 Park Ave. in Manhattan, is trying to finalize an agreement in which former business partner SL Green Realty Corp. would serve as lead bidder in the skyscraper's chapter 11 sale process, MarketWatch.com reported. Terms weren't disclosed during the update provided Thursday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. But earlier this year Chinese conglomerate HNA Group Co., which is a backer of PWM Property Management, was told in an arbitration proceeding that it must pay SL Green roughly $185 million in a dispute over the real estate. Besides managing the building, SL Green also invested $148 million in the property.
The Supreme Court will hear two bankruptcy cases in the term to begin this coming October. Yesterday, the high court granted certiorari to decide whether the failure to obtain the stay of a sale approval order erects a jurisdictional bar to appeal under Section 363(m), according to an analysis in today’s Rochelle’s Daily Wire. The courts of appeals are split 6-2. Led by the Second Circuit, the minority hold that Section 363(m) is jurisdictional and bars an appeal from any order that is “integral” to a sale order. The Fifth Circuit sides with the Second. The majority — composed of the Third, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth and Tenth Circuits — hold that Section 363(m) only sets limits on the relief that a court may grant on appeal from a sale order and is not jurisdictional. With the grant of certiorari, the Supreme Court will review MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v. Transform Holdco LLC (In re Sears Holdings Corp.), 20-1846, 2021 BL 481940, 2021 US App Lexis 37358, 2021 WL 5986997 (2d Cir. Dec. 17, 2021).
The Archdiocese of Santa Fe's most iconic building will be mortgaged to help cover settlements to clergy sexual abuse victims, Archbishop John C. Wester said in a recent letter to parishes, the Albuquerque (N.M.) Journal reported. The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, known as the "mother church" of the archdiocese, and any other properties that are mortgaged will not be lost because parishes will chip in to cover the payments on the debt, Wester said in his June 17 letter. Parishes will collectively need to borrow up to $12 million to cover the gap in the archdiocese's $75 million share of the bankruptcy settlement, according to the letter. The archdiocese is asking each parish to take on a portion of that debt. Representatives for clergy sex abuse survivors and the archdiocese announced in mid-May that they'd agreed to a $121.5 million fund to compensate hundreds of people who say they suffered childhood sexual abuse by priests and other clergy dating back to the 1990s. Wester said that the archdiocese is working to secure financing from two Catholic lenders — the Catholic Order of Foresters and the Notre Dame Federal Credit Union. The archdiocese must pay $65 million by the end of September, and the remaining $10 million by the end of next March.
The owner of Ebony magazine is nearing a deal to acquire Black News Channel LLC out of bankruptcy, a proposal that could revive the cable news network meant to provide Black Americans’ perspective on current events after it shut down abruptly earlier this year, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Lawyers for Black News Channel said in papers filed yesterday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Tallahassee, Fla., that they are close to designating an affiliate of Ebony Media as the stalking-horse bidder for its assets and asked the judge overseeing the chapter 11 case for more time to finalize the agreement. Stalking-horse deals are common in chapter 11 and would set the floor price for Black News Channel’s assets ahead of a potential bankruptcy auction. The offer by Ebony Studios LLC, which is owned by former NBA player Ulysses “Junior” Bridgeman, would be subject to better offers should any materialize in the coming weeks. BNC launched two years ago and featured a lineup of high-profile contributors that included Charles Blow and Marc Lamont Hill. It shut down in March and then filed for bankruptcy, citing challenging market conditions and financial pressure. The network has largely been backed by automotive-parts billionaire and Jacksonville Jaguars NFL team owner Shad Khan.
Maximizing value for creditors is one of the paramount objectives of the Canadian insolvency system. Where the value is in a business varies in each situation. Depending on the nature of the business, a debtor company may have crucial licenses or contracts that are not transferrable but are necessary in order to operate. In another example, an entity may have significant tax losses that may be a driver of value, but the path to a successful plan of arrangement is uncertain or the debtor has insufficient resources to pursue a plan of arrangement in Canada.