%1
‘South Park’ Creators Face Rival Bankruptcy Bid for Casa Bonita
The creators of “South Park” are facing competition to buy Casa Bonita, the bankrupt restaurant and family entertainment center outside Denver that was featured in an episode of the TV show, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Andrew Novick, a Casa Bonita enthusiast who leads a group called Save Casa Bonita LLC, said in court papers Monday that he can do better than the proposed sale to “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. A lawyer representing Parker and Stone in the bankruptcy case declined to comment. Their sale offer, announced on a live-streamed conversation in August with Colorado’s governor, Jared Polis, values Casa Bonita at $3.1 million, court papers show. Any sale requires approval from the judge overseeing Casa Bonita’s chapter 11 case in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Denver. Novick said his group is willing to put up $3.5 million for Casa Bonita, a Mexican resort-themed restaurant known for its 30-foot high waterfall, which cliff divers, at times wearing gorilla suits, regularly jump off to entertain guests.

Lender Was Lucky to Recover Anything on an Unauthorized $5.2 Million Loan
Pipeline Foods Bankruptcy Judge OKs Speedy Iowa Property Sale Process
Minnesota-based organic food and feed supplier Pipeline Foods LLC on Thursday secured approval to move forward on a fast-tracked auction and sale of certain property in Iowa and to work with junior creditors to sell off the rest of its assets, Reuters reported. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Karen Owens in Wilmington, Del., signed off on the sale procedures during a brief virtual hearing. Pipeline filed for bankruptcy protection in July with $143.7 million in debt, blaming the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic for its troubles. Judge Owens also approved The Scoular Company as the lead bidder for Pipeline’s Atlantic, Iowa-based real estate and storage facility. Scoular has offered $4.35 million for the property. Competing bids are due on Oct. 21. If additional bids are made, an auction will occur on Oct. 22. A sale hearing is set for Oct. 28.

Condé Nast Owner to Buy Newsletter Publisher SportTechie Out of Bankruptcy
The owner of Condé Nast has offered to buy SportTechie Inc., which publishes a newsletter covering the intersection of sports and technology and filed for bankruptcy yesterday to execute the sale and eliminate debt, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The proposed sale would expand the reach of Advance Publications Inc. subsidiary Leaders Group Holdings LLC and its collection of athletics-focused publications, including Sports Business Journal and Leaders, which hosts conferences and provides news and information to sports executives, according to its website. Leaders Group Chief Executive Warren Thune said the company intends to integrate SportTechie’s newsletter and calendar of in-person and virtual events into its business, bolstering the breadth of its coverage and value to its subscribers. SportTechie was founded as a blog in 2012 and now has more than 35,000 newsletter subscribers—about 500 of which are paid subscribers—and hosts sports industry conferences, according to papers filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. The media company also hosts conferences and live events that were switched to virtual gatherings during the pandemic, SportTechie co-founder and CEO Taylor Bloom said in a sworn declaration filed with the court. Leaders Group lent SportTechie money before the bankruptcy filing and has also agreed to provide about $1.1 million to fund the chapter 11, according to court papers. Under the deal, which requires court approval, Leaders Group would use its debt claims as currency to acquire SportTechie’s assets through a credit bid.
GW Bridge Bus Station Lender Sues Port Authority over Bankruptcy Sale
A real estate investment firm that financed the overhaul of a major bus station in northern Manhattan sued the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, accusing the public agency of upending the planned bankruptcy sale of a retail leasehold and wiping out a $72 million loan from foreign investors, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. New York City Regional Center LLC is seeking to recoup its losses through the lawsuit filed Monday against the Port Authority, which detailed problems with a chapter 11 sale for the retail leasehold at the George Washington Bridge Bus Station in Washington Heights. Funding to redevelop the bus station came through the EB-5 Immigrant investor program, which provides green cards to foreigners who invest $500,000 in certain qualified U.S. businesses. The development consortium, George Washington Bridge Bus Station Development Venture LLC, filed for chapter 11 in October 2019 amid cost overruns at the bus station overhaul and a dispute with contractor Tutor Perini Corp. Although the COVID-19 pandemic prolonged the bankruptcy, the developer struck a deal worth $100 million earlier this year with Monarch Alternative Capital LP, which agreed to assume the $72 million in debt funded through the EB-5 program. But Monarch backed out after the Port Authority, which owns the bus station, demanded that the buyer assume all outstanding liabilities under the ground lease and put $17 million into escrow for other problems at the property. Among the issues the Port identified were elevators that it said weren’t in compliance with fire and safety regulations, an allegation the developer said was false and not substantiated by an engineering firm it hired to check the elevators. The collapse of Monarch’s deal forced the developer to “hastily” enter into an alternative transaction with JMB Capital Partners LLC, which had been funding the bankruptcy case, Monday’s lawsuit said. JMB agreed to waive the chapter 11 loan and provide funding to cover additional administrative costs, according to the complaint.After the sale to JMB was approved, there was no money left to pay off the New York City Regional Center loan, court records show.

Santa Fe Archdiocese Raised More than $1.6 Million from Property Auction
An eight-day online property auction raised close to $1.68 million for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe’s (N.M.) bankruptcy effort, an executive with the auction company said this week, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. Louis B. Fisher III of SVN Auction Services said that some contracts still must be signed, so the total isn’t yet certain. The archdiocese also will pay closing costs of 1 percent or a bit more. The archdiocese hopes to generate enough money through insurance, property sales such as those in the online auction and donations to settle a bankruptcy case with about 385 people who have claimed sexual abuse perpetrated by Catholic clergy whom Church officials have found to be “credibly accused.” Fisher said that the auction sold about 140 properties, many of them bundled with others. Failing to meet an undisclosed amount of settlement money in the bankruptcy case could require the archdiocese to sell essential properties, such as community centers, schools and churches. The institution has said it wants to limit sales to nonessential properties, such as the small, vacant parcels in the auction, most of which had been donated.
