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Swedish truck manufacturer Volvo announced Friday today that it was successful in its $210 million bid in an auction for the battery business of financially troubled Proterra in the U.S., Investing.com reported. This auction was conducted as part of Proterra's ongoing chapter 11 bankruptcy protection proceedings. “We entered into the Chapter 11 process with a mission to maximize the potential of each of our product lines. Today, we have taken an important step towards that goal for our Proterra Powered business,” said Proterra CEO, Gareth Joyce. Volvo expressed its intention to conclude the acquisition early next year, subject to approval by the bankruptcy court.

The Canastra family, owners of New Bedford’s (Mass.) seafood auction, closed a deal to buy out groundfish giant Blue Harvest Fisheries from bankruptcy, a move finalized Wednesday with the approval of a federal judge, the New Bedford Light reported. After a short bidding war, Cassie Canastra submitted the highest bid of $12 million on Monday, beating out the second-highest bid from O’Hara Corporation, which is a part owner of New Bedford-based Eastern Fisheries, by $750,000. The sale includes “all the vessels, all the permits” that once belonged to Blue Harvest Fisheries. It includes eight vessels and 48 state and federal fishing permits, representing about 13% of all Northeast groundfish permits or about 250 million pounds of quota for the current fishing year. The sale marks the final chapter in the saga of Blue Harvest Fisheries, which was founded in 2015 by the Dutch billionaire Brenninkmeijer family, through their Manhattan-based private equity firm. The company quickly expanded to become the single-largest groundfish company on the East Coast before declaring bankruptcy in September and liquidating its assets.

Sunlight Financial Holdings Inc. filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. after arranging a deal to be bought by a solar energy industry investor group that includes a lender, Bloomberg News reported. The buyers include an affiliate of Greenbacker Capital Management, Sunstone Credit, IGS Ventures and secured lender Cross River Bank, according to a Monday statement from the company, which provides homeowner loans for rooftop solar panels. As part of their restructuring plan to reduce debt, the consortium would invest “significant” new capital, according to the statement. Sunlight also said it would seek an expedited in-court process, with suppliers and employees paid. In its Delaware bankruptcy court filing dated Oct. 30, Sunlight listed liabilities between $500 million to $1 billion, while assets were in the range of $100 million to $500 million. A bank loan for just over $1 million from Georgia’s Own Credit Union featured atop the list of unsecured claims. Sunlight went public through a merger in 2021 with a special purpose acquisition company backed by Apollo Global Management Inc. Its shares slumped this year after it flagged “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue operations. Investors sued Apollo and other architects of the blank-check merger earlier this year, claiming shareholders were duped into participating in a deal that made millions for insiders.

The Miami-based parent company of charter airline iAero Airways and aviation maintenance firm iAeroTech, which combined employ 860 workers, is slated for bankruptcy auction, the South Florida Business Journal reported. iAeroAirways lists its headquarters as being located in Miami with its operational headquarters at Piedmond Triad International Airport in Greensboro, where it is believed to employ fewer than 100. The company was founded in 1997 as Swift Air, which iAero Group acquired and rebranded as iAero Airways in 2019. It operates a fleet of 42 aircraft. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert A. Mark approved the auction and bidding procedures for AeroTech Miami on Oct. 17. The bid deadline is Dec. 1, the auction takes place Dec. 6 and a court hearing to confirm the auction result is scheduled for Dec. 13 in Miami. The minimum purchase price is $216.3 million, which represents the value of AeroTech’s secured loans with Synovus and BXC Bridge, an affiliate of Blackstone. Under the judge’s order, BXC Bridge is allowed to submit a credit bid, but it must include enough cash to repay the Synovus loans.

Bankrupt Cyxtera Technologies Inc. is in advanced talks to sell a large swath of its data centers to Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, Bloomberg News reported. As part of its chapter 11 filing, Cyxtera has been looking at two possible tracks, either recapitalizing itself, with lenders taking control of the firm, or selling itself. Cxytera’s and Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s negotiations are continuing and could still fall apart. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has been building its data center holdings, with recent acquisitions of European firm Data4 and Compass Datacenters LLC. It also owns Dawn Acquisitions LLC, which does business as Evoque Data Center Solutions. Digital Realty Trust Inc. has also shown interest in some of Cxytera’s assets, Bloomberg previously reported. Prior to its June bankruptcy, Cyxtera had entered negotiations with lenders on how to tackle nearly $870 million of debt due next year. The company was formed in 2017 after CenturyLink’s data center and co-location business was combined with Medina Capital’s security and data analytics operations. In 2021, Cyxtera combined with a black-check firm in a deal valuing the combined company at about $3.4 billion on an enterprise basis.

Electric vehicle company Lordstown Motors received U.S. bankruptcy court approval Wednesday to sell its manufacturing assets to a new company affiliated with its founder and former CEO Stephen Burns for $10.2 million, Reuters reported. LAS Capital, majority-owned by Burns, will acquire Lordstown's intellectual property, business records, and machinery including assembly lines for electric vehicle motors and batteries. Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath approved the sale at a court hearing in Wilmington, Del., saying that it was the best available offer. The sale does not include any rights to pursue legal claims against Lordstown's directors, officers or equity owners, which will remain with the bankrupt company, Lordstown Motors' attorney David Turetsky said at the court hearing. Several investor groups have already brought claims against Lordstown and its directors, alleging that the electric truck startup misled consumers and investors about its ability to ramp up electric vehicle production. Lordstown Motors filed for bankruptcy in Delaware in June, seeking to wind down its business after failing to resolve a dispute over a promised investment from Taiwan's Foxconn, which had agreed to collaborate on the development of Lordstown's electric pickup truck after its purchase of Lordstown's manufacturing center.

Home-decor retailer Z Gallerie is searching for a buyer after it filed bankruptcy for the third time on Monday, Bloomberg News reported. The California-based firm, which sells upscale furniture pieces, said in a Delaware court filing that high mortgage rates and a resulting pullback in home sales crimped demand for its products. It also cited higher import costs, negative cash flow in many of its stores and industry headwinds as factors that led to its filing. It listed assets and liabilities of as much as $100 million each in its bankruptcy petition. The company has secured a $1.1 million debtor-in-possession financial facility from ZG Lending SPV, its existing secured lender, according to court papers. It plans to retain Stump & Company, an M&A advisory firm, to help market its assets. If Z Gallerie can’t find a buyer willing to invest in brick and mortar stores, the company will shut down all of its 21 locations along with its warehouse by the end of the year, Robert Fetterman, the company’s chief financial officer and interim chief executive officer said in a court filing. He also said the firm was prepared to trim its 250-person workforce as a means to save cash.