%1

A Canadian court ordered Cineworld Group PLC to pay 1.29 billion Canadian dollars, equivalent to about $1 billion, in damages for walking away from a merger agreement with Cineplex Inc. after the COVID-19 pandemic rocked the movie-theater industry world-wide, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. An Ontario judge rejected arguments by U.K.-based Cineworld that Canada-based Cineplex violated the terms of a planned merger between the two companies when it took steps to conserve cash by deferring payments to landlords, vendors and film studios after box offices shut down in the early days of COVID-19’s global spread. “Cineplex cannot be held in default…when it was prevented from conducting its normal day-to-day operations by government mandate,” said Justice Barbara Conway of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in her ruling on Tuesday. Cineworld, which operates the Regal cinema chain in the U.S., said it would appeal the decision and “does not expect damages to be payable whilst any appeal is ongoing.” It reported about $450 million in cash holdings as of June and previously said it expected “no material liability” to arise from the Cineplex lawsuit. The U.K.-based company warned earlier this year there was doubt about its viability as a business after it posted a $3 billion loss for 2020 because of the pandemic’s impact. Cineplex had sought US$2.2 billion in damages from Cineworld for backing out of the acquisition.

A bankruptcy judge declined to boot a Manhattan skyscraper backed by Chinese conglomerate HNA Group Co. out of chapter 11, ruling the building owner had legitimate reasons to fear a forced sale, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Judge Mary Walrath of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., ruled that 245 Park Avenue owner PWM Property Management LLC could remain under court protection, deciding against its business partner SL Green Realty Corp., the skyscraper’s property manager, which argued the chapter 11 case was filed in bad faith. PWM filed for bankruptcy in October, saying it was at imminent risk of losing control of its bank accounts to mortgage lenders. Major League Baseball, a key tenant of 245 Park, is leaving the property next year, and lenders could begin confiscating cash if SL Green didn’t find a replacement tenant, according to PWM’s court papers. SL Green argued the chapter 11 case was filed to give PWM an unfair advantage in a two-party dispute that should be handled through litigation, rather than bankruptcy. Judge Walrath disagreed, saying that PWM was in financial distress and filed bankruptcy ahead of a possible “cascade” of negative consequences. “You don’t have to wait until the terrible events happen to file a bankruptcy proceeding,” the judge said in a bench ruling Monday.

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe, N.M., will hold another online auction beginning Jan. 31 to sell more parcels of land for a settlement with close to 400 victims of clergy abuse, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. No settlement has been reached since the archdiocese filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy three years ago. The archdiocese hopes to raise enough money through property sales, donations, insurance and other methods to work out a group settlement, so each victim isn’t addressed in separate lawsuits. The online auction will conclude Feb. 7. The auction’s website, www.ASFbankruptcyauction.com, will be available on Jan. 3 and will list the parcels involved. SVN Auction Services of Florida and Louisiana will oversee the auction, as it did the first one in September. That auction generated about $1.4 million for the archdiocese, said Louis Fisher III of SVN, although officials are still closing on some of the transactions. Attorney Aaron Boland of Santa Fe, who represents one of the victims, said the archdiocese’s insurance policies — and how much insurance companies will pay out — are a much bigger matter than the auctions. Fisher said the second auction would include 427 properties packaged into 80 bundles in 16 New Mexico counties. He said he hoped the archdiocese could generate $2 million to $4 million, but that it was hard to estimate.

Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs is seeking to buy the Sean John lifestyle brand he founded more than two decades ago out of bankruptcy for $3.3 million, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Combs made the offer to reacquire a 90% stake in Sean John from the North American division of Global Brands Group Holding Ltd., according to papers filed Wednesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. GBG USA Inc. filed for bankruptcy over the summer to withstand financial problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Combs had sold his equity in Sean John but retains a 10% stake in the brand as part of a joint venture with GBG USA, court papers say. GBG USA put the joint venture into bankruptcy Wednesday. Combs’s offer is subject to higher bids, should any materialize in the coming weeks, and must be approved by a bankruptcy judge.

St. Croix Energy LLP won the auction for the shuttered Limetree Bay refinery in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the company confirmed yesterday, Reuters reported. The St. Croix-based company, which is looking to restart the facility, bid $20 million for the assets, according to a court filing earlier this week.

Bikram's Yoga College of India LP, which filed for bankruptcy in 2017 after facing legal judgments related to sexual harassment, discrimination and other allegations, has sold six additional cars that were once part of the hot yoga pioneer's collection, Dow Jones Newswires reported. The vehicles grossed $250,000, with a 2009 Rolls-Royce Phantom going for $155,000. Parties receiving the proceeds will include City National Bank and creditor Minakshi Jafa-Bodden. The cars also included a 2002 Bentley Arnage and a 2008 Mercedes Benz. Late last year, the bankruptcy auction of 22 of Bikram's cars received winning bids totaling $915,000.

The senior-living provider poised to acquire Hillside Village, acash-strapped retirement community, plans to continue operations there without any major changes, a company spokesman said yesterday, according to the Keene (N.H.) Sentinel. That sale is set to be approved Nov. 19 after the nonprofit Prospect-Woodward Home, which opened Hillside Village two years ago, received no other bids for the facility before a court-imposed deadline late last month, according to Covenant Living Communities & Services spokesman Randy Eilts. The sale hearing, part of Hillside Village's ongoing chapter 11 case, had initially been scheduled for yesterday but was recently postponed. Based in Skokie, Ill., Covenant Living will purchase the Keene facility in a $33 million deal initially announced in August. The company, which operates 18 senior-living facilities nationwide, will honor all existing contracts with Hillside Village residents and staff, Eilts said Monday.

Jessica Simpson’s company is set to buy back the singer-turned-fashion entrepreneur’s name from bankrupt Sequential Brands Group Inc. after no other qualified bids emerged, Bloomberg News reported. A court-supervised auction for the branding rights was canceled, according to court documents, leaving Simpson’s firm, With You Inc., as the sole bidder at $65 million. Simpson previously agreed to be the so-called stalking horse that sets the minimum price in the auction, and under bankruptcy rules, she’s required to complete the purchase if no better offer comes in. The auction, which had been delayed by a day, was canceled on Thursday. Sequential’s other major brands will be sold for more than $330 million worth of cash and new debt, the company said in court papers. Gainline Galaxy Holdings agreed to buy Sequential’s Active Division and Centric Brands will acquire Joe’s Jeans. The company is scheduled to ask a judge in Wilmington, Delaware to approve all of the sales on Nov. 4.