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FTX Approved to Start Selling $744 Million in Grayscale Assets

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FTX Trading Ltd. won bankruptcy court approval to begin selling its stakes in digital trusts managed by crypto firm Grayscale Investments in order to raise money to repay creditors owed billions of dollars, Bloomberg News reported. FTX plans to sell the assets in a way that maximizes the value and avoids disrupting the market for the digital investments, according to court documents. Grayscale sold investments linked to various digital currencies. The buyers didn’t hold the actual currencies, but instead got shares in trusts that Grayscale put together and managed. FTX’s stakes in the trusts were worth about $744 million as of last month, the company said in court papers. Since FTX filed for bankruptcy last year amid fraud allegations, the company’s advisers have been tracking down assets and trying to untangle a complex web of debts owed to various creditors, including customers who put cash and crypto on the trading platform. FTX’s administrators have so far recovered about $7 billion in assets, including $3.4 billion of crypto, according to court documents.

Bankrupt Health Company to Sell Subsidiary for $180 Million

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Telemedicine company UpHealth Holdings agreed to sell subsidiary Cloudbreak Health LLC for $180 million in cash, the South Florida Business Journal reported. The sale to private equity firm GTCR comes two months after Delray Beach-based UpHealth filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in New York federal court. The company will use the proceeds from the sale to pay debts and cover other expenses. Moving forward, UpHealth will focus on growing TTC Healthcare, described as a "cash flow positive" behavioral health platform. "UpHealth is executing on paying down majority of its debt to our noteholders, with the goal of freeing capital to grow our behavioral health business," said Avi Katz, chairman of the board. CloudBreak Health, a provider of healthcare focused language interpretation services, more than doubled its revenue over the past three years, Katz added. The deal comes two years after UpHealth's merger with GigCapital2 and Cloudbreak Health LLC in 2021. In September, it filed for bankruptcy after a contract dispute with investment bank Needham & Co tied to the merger. A judge ordered UpHealth to pay Needham $31 million.

Alex Jones Aims to Sell Guns, Boats, Cars to Fund Bankruptcy

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Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has asked a court for permission to sell a cache of firearms, jewelry, cars, boats, and a cryogenic chamber to help pay for costs of his personal bankruptcy, Bloomberg Law reported. Jones is also looking to conduct part of the sales on his Infowars radio and video talk shows to increase the value of the items, according to a filing Tuesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. The talk show host filed for bankruptcy protection last year after he was ordered to pay more than $1 billion in judgments related to his lies that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax. Promoting the sales on his shows could increase the items’ value “because supporters’ demand for items attributable to Debtor will increase value — much like memorabilia sales,” Jones said. Jones has previously disclosed that he has almost 50 firearms that include shotguns, rifles, pistols, and revolvers. He also previously said he’s holding a stash of guns for people who participated in the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol. Other items Jones aims to sell include household goods, including furnishings, golf carts, and gym equipment, according to court papers. Jones has previously estimated his firearms are worth at least $72,000. Whatever money is left over at the end of his bankruptcy would be used for payments as part of a chapter 11 plan, Jones said. The request to sell some personal items comes amid criticisms by Sandy Hook victim families of Jones’ “opulent” spending habits during his bankruptcy. The sale request comes after Jones lost a key bankruptcy court ruling last month. Judge Christopher M. Lopez found that despite Jones’ bankruptcy, about $1.1 billion of the $1.4 billion in debt he owes from Connecticut and Texas defamation judgments can’t be discharged under the bankruptcy code. Judge Lopez said the debt can’t be tossed because the Texas and Connecticut state courts made findings that Jones’ conduct was intentional and malicious. Jones said that he intends to appeal.

Sinclair Says Diamond Sports Subsidiary Likely to Close in 2024

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Sinclair Inc. said its bankrupt local sports unit Diamond Sports Group will probably shut down after the end of Major League Baseball’s 2024 regular season under a new proposal between the subsidiary and its creditors, Bloomberg News reported. The liquidation of Diamond would represent the end of a relationship that has been fraught and short. Sinclair acquired Diamond from Walt Disney Co. in 2019. The deal, valued at around $10.6 billion according to court papers, was designed to turn Sinclair into a cable sports powerhouse. But revenues from cable television have plunged in recent years as more consumers rely on Internet-based services. Diamond, which has its own management, filed for bankruptcy in March, and sued Sinclair in July, accusing the company of siphoning off money, a claim its parent denies. Diamond is working to finalize what would be essentially one-year deals that would permit it to broadcast its full slate of National Basketball Association and National Hockey League games for the current season as well as next year’s regular season games for Major League Baseball. After that, Diamond’s deals with MLB, NBA and NHL would end, the the operator of the Bally Sports brand of local sports channels has said. Diamond may liquidate next year if it can’t find a way to keep the company operating beyond 2024, Andrew Parlen, a lawyer for the company, said on Wednesday. Sinclair, now operating independently of Diamond, sees that as the most likely outcome, lawyer David R. Seligman said separately.

Real Estate Investor Faces SEC Inquiry on WeWork Offer

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A real estate investor facing scrutiny from lenders and investors is now the subject of a government inquiry into an offer to buy shares in WeWork Inc., Bloomberg News reported. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has sent inquiries to Jonathan Larmore, the founder of Arciterra Cos., about a Nov. 3 press release in which an entity called Cole Capital Funds said it was seeking to buy shares in the coworking company at a significant premium, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named citing private information. The inquiry includes Larmore’s trading history in WeWork stock and options, the person said. A company filing links Larmore to Cole Capital Funds, which was registered in October with the Arizona Corporation Commission. The real estate investor was already facing an SEC inquiry about Arciterra, which had owned as many as 80 properties including strip malls. In an interview, Larmore said that he planned to make all of the required filings related to his purchase of WeWork shares and that he couldn’t comment further on the matter until he had done so. He declined to comment on the SEC inquiry, and said that he was working through lawsuits filed by private parties and was confident in their outcome. “Many of the lawsuits have been resolved and we will continue to resolve the rest,” he said.