%1

Harland and Wolff, the Northern Ireland shipyard that built the Titanic, has been rescued from bankruptcy, CNN.com. A UK energy company, InfraStrata, said yesterday that it had agreed to buy the 158-year old Belfast shipyard and its assets for £6 million ($7.3 million). All 79 employees who had not opted to voluntarily leave their jobs would be retained, InfraStrata said in a statement, adding that it planned to create "several hundred" new jobs over the next five years. The announcement marks a dramatic turnaround in the fortunes of Harland and Wolff, which was placed into administration by the UK government in August after failure to secure a bridge loan pushed the company to the brink of bankruptcy.

Discount retailer Fred’s Inc. has reached two separate deals to sell some of its pharmacy assets, including 10 drugstores and inventory, to Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and ExpressRx Co. for a total of about $16.4 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. Walgreens is looking to buy pharmacy inventory from Fred’s for about $9.4 million, according to a filing on Thursday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. ExpressRx has agreed to purchase 10 Fred’s pharmacies for about $7 million. As part of Walgreens’ offer, the drugstore chain would acquire substantially all of Fred’s pharmacy assets, including prescription files and records, as well as retail prescription and pharmaceutical inventory.

Contango Oil & Gas Co., an acquisition-minded energy business backed by investors including Texas real estate billionaire John Goff, said it plans to buy bankrupt White Star Petroleum LLC for $132.5 million, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. In an offer that the creditors committee said came in at the 11th hour on Wednesday, the Contango deal surpasses what had started as an $115 million bid by BCE-Mach LLC, a partnership led by Chesapeake Energy Corp. co-founder Tom Ward. Publicly traded Contango on Friday said that the closing of the White Star deal is subject to due diligence, finalization of documents and the entry of an order from U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Oklahoma City approving the sale. The proposed deal marks at least the second acquisition Contango has announced this month. The Houston-based company also said it planned to buy certain Will Energy Corp. properties in North Louisiana, the Western Anadarko Basin in Western Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle for $23 million.

Cambrian Holding Co. has struck deals to sell its coal mining assets to multiple buyers that have agreed to forgive some of its debt, and to assume tens of millions of dollars in reclamation obligations and other expenses, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Hedge fund Richmond Hill Capital Partners LP, a lender to Cambrian owed more than $45 million, placed the top bid for the company’s Clintwood Elkhorn mine complex, according to papers filed Tuesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of Kentucky. Cambrian’s assets hit the auction block last week, months after the company filed for chapter 11 protection. Consideration for the Clintwood Elkhorn assets includes a $15 million credit bid, the amount of bankruptcy financing Richmond provided Cambrian to fund its chapter 11 filing. The bid also includes a payment of more than $6.5 million in professional fees, the assumption of more than $59 million in estimated reclamation liabilities and other expenses, court papers say.

One Group Hospitality Inc., operator of the STK steakhouse chain, won court approval to buy Kona Grill Inc.’s 24 restaurants and other assets out of bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported. Publicly traded One Group will pay $25 million in cash and will assume $11 million in Kona’s liabilities. Judge Christopher Sontchi of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., approved the sale yesterday at a hearing. One Group Chief Executive Emanuel Hilario told WSJ Pro Bankruptcy that his company plans to keep open virtually all of Kona’s remaining restaurants, a move that would preserve about 2,000 jobs. An earlier deal with a lead bidder led by a former chief executive of Kona collapsed in late July. That offer was for $20.3 million plus a similar assumption of liabilities.

The sale of St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia have received bankruptcy court approval, Philadelphia.cbslocal.com reported. Drexel University and Tower Health have agreed to acquire St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children for a reported $50 million.“St. Christopher’s is an important health care provider, and our goal from the beginning has been to preserve uninterrupted access to world-class pediatric care and nationally recognized programs," the hospital said in a statement. "We are satisfied that this transaction ensures St. Christopher’s has a healthy future ahead of it.” The auction was prompted by the closing of Hahnemann University Hospital after its parent company filed for bankruptcy in June.

Oil-and-gas producer White Star Petroleum LLC wants bankruptcy court permission to sell its assets for $115 million to a partnership led by Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s co-founder, while residents of Oklahoma look to continue suing the company over damages caused by earthquakes they say were triggered by its fracking operations, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Oklahoma City at which Judge Janice Loyd will consider whether to approve the sale to BCE-Mach LLC, a partnership formed last year between private-equity firm Bayou City Energy Management LLC and Mach Resources LLC. Mach, formed in 2017, is led by Tom Ward, who co-founded Chesapeake Energy with the late Aubrey McClendon in 1989. Ward left Chesapeake in 2006. White Star itself was founded by McClendon. In May it filed for chapter 11, days after unpaid vendors tried to push the energy company into an involuntary bankruptcy. The Oklahoma City-based oil and gas producer entered bankruptcy planning to sell its assets. It said that it had been stressed financially in recent years, partly due to low production volumes and higher-than-expected operating costs. The bankruptcy filing came after lenders reduced access to cash amid failures to make required payments. The company’s debts included a $274 million secured revolving credit line, a $58 million secured term loan from EnLink Oklahoma Gas Processing LP, and $10 million in unsecured bonds.