A New York nanotechnology company will liquidate in bankruptcy after federal authorities charged its former chief executive last year with duping investors out of $12.2 million based on a cancer-detection technology that turned out to be bogus, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Nanobeak Biotech Inc. filed for chapter 7 protection in New York on Friday, listing as its largest asset a $5.2 million claim against former Chief Executive J. Jeremy Barbera. He faces federal charges that he bilked dozens of investors by telling them the company had developed breathalyzer sensor technology for detecting cancer and narcotics in human breath, based on research licensed from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. In reality, the technology was “wholly fictitious” and was never developed by the company or by NASA, according to the criminal charges pending against him. Mr. Barbera has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for trial in January. Nanobeak alleged in court papers Friday that Mr. Barbera misappropriated $5.2 million from the company, echoing allegations in the criminal case. Prosecutors in New York allege he embezzled millions of dollars in investor funds to pay personal expenses, including private school and college tuition for his children, the mortgage on his Central Park West apartment, luxury automobiles and other expenses.
Limetree Bay Refinery proposed new deadlines for the bidding and sale of its bankrupt oil refining operations on Friday that will be heard, and likely approved, in the Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of Texas on Wednesday, Sept. 15, StThomasSource.com reported. Under the current schedule, Limetree was to have identified a stalking horse, or low-end bidder, by Friday, and close a sale by Nov. 8. The extension of more than a month allows prospective purchasers additional time to tour the physical plant on St. Croix, Limetree lead bankruptcy counsel Elizabeth Green said. The company reported in August that it had sent almost 20 non-disclosure agreements to possible buyers. While Green couldn’t discuss specifics of who they are, her motion suggests that Limetree, if given more time, could cultivate one who could set a bottom price point for the assets to prevent others from under-bidding the purchase price. As a debtor in possession, Limetree is operating on a short financial leash with a cash loan keeping it afloat until it can realize a sale that would allow its creditors to be paid. It filed for chapter 11 protection in July after a short-lived attempt to revive the circa 1960s St. Croix refinery, previously owned by Hovensa. The company owes over $1.2 billion to secured creditors, according to recent court documents. The proposed new schedule would not require other changes to the DIP order, Green wrote.
GTT Communications Inc. said that it plans to file a pre-packaged bankruptcy after it closes the sale of its infrastructure division in the coming weeks, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The cloud-networking provider on Thursday said it plans to file for bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The company said that its foreign businesses and operations outside the U.S. won’t be part of the filing and are unlikely to be affected by the chapter 11 cases. GTT said that it has struck a restructuring support agreement with a majority of its secured and unsecured debtors and I Squared Capital. GTT is expecting to sell its infrastructure division to I Squared Capital, as it seeks to repay its secured debt. The sale and the transactions related to the restructuring support will reduce GTT’s debt by roughly $2.8 billion, the company said. GTT last year agreed to sell the infrastructure division for $2.15 billion. GTT said that its business is operating as usual both in the U.S. and globally, as it has access to enough liquidity to operate its businesses. With the support of lenders, the company said it will retain additional amounts from the sale proceeds to further strengthen its cash position. Vendors, employees and other parties will continue to be paid in the ordinary course of business, it added.
Senior living nonprofit Covenant Living has entered into a purchase agreement to buy a CCRC in New Hampshire that recently filed for chapter 11 protection, SeniorHousingNews.com reported. The organization behind the continuing care retirement community (CCRC), The Prospect-Woodward Home, filed for chapter 11 protection in New Hampshire, where the community is located. Covenant is seeking to become a stalking-horse bidder in the community and participate in a court-supervised auction that could result in higher bids or offers, according to a press release from the Skokie, Ill.-based operator. Covenant is one of the largest senior living nonprofits in the United States with a portfolio of 18 communities in nine states. Covenant would pay $33 million for the community under the agreement, court documents show. The 222-unit CCRC, Hillside Village, came under financial duress last year amid restrictions to protect against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jessica Simpson’s family offered to buy the singer-turned-fashion entrepreneur’s brand out of bankruptcy for $65 million, a lawyer said yesterday in court, Bloomberg News reported. Sequential Brands Group Inc., which owns the rights to the Jessica Simpson fashion collection, filed bankruptcy on Tuesday with plans to hold an auction for its aging brands. The day before the company sought court protection from creditors, Sequential made a tentative deal with the Simpson family, company attorney Joshua Brody told the judge overseeing the chapter 11 case in Wilmington, Delaware. The company will try to get a final agreement in the coming weeks to have the Simpson family act as the so-called stalking horse bidder at an auction, Brody said. Two other current partners, Galaxy Active and Centric Brands, have also agreed to serve as lead bidders for other assets, setting a floor price for the brands they are trying to buy. Should a judge approve those agreements, Galaxy Active would make a binding, initial offer of $333 million for the so-called Active Division; Centric Brands, which holds a long-term license for Joe’s Jeans, would offer $42 million for the denim and sportswear label.
Basic Energy Services Inc. is once again seeking voluntary bankruptcy protection and plans to sell off a substantial portion of its Lower 48 assets, Natural Gas Intel reported. Hit by the oil price rout in 2015 and 2016, the Fort Worth, TX-based oilfield services operator successfully emerged from voluntary bankruptcy five years ago. After COVID-19 bashed energy demand last year, Basic shrank its Lower 48 business to three segments from five. The latest restructuring would give Basic the ability to sell assets in separate transactions to Axis Energy Services Holding LLC, Berry Corp. and Select Energy Services Inc. Basic filed for chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas in Houston (No. 21-90006).
