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Woodbridge Group is going to take two to three years to sell off its portfolio of valuable real estate holdings under bankruptcy protection, but it is determined to begin paying off investors this year, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The first payoff from Woodbridge won’t be much, said Richard Pachulski, lawyer for the official committee representing creditors of the California company. Investors might see 10 cents on the dollar on the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of debt, Pachulski said at a hearing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. Less than two weeks after the company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil fraud action against Woodbridge, accusing it of operating as a Ponzi scheme.

Univision Holdings Inc. is considering selling Gizmodo Media Group and the Onion, a retreat from English-language websites in favor of media aimed at Hispanic Americans, Bloomberg News reported. The company has begun a formal process to explore a sale of the properties, such as Gizmodo, Jezebel, Deadspin and Lifehacker, according to a statement Tuesday. Univision’s satirical Onion portfolio includes its namesake site, along with Clickhole, the A.V. Club and other brands. Bloomberg and other news organization reported last week that a possible sale was in the works. Univision acquired many of the sites when it bought Gawker Media for $135 million in a 2016 bankruptcy auction. But the company’s push beyond Latino-oriented content has been rocky. It began offering Gizmodo Media workers buyout packages last month, aiming to reduce its editorial employee budget by 15 percent.

John Malone’s Liberty Media Corp., which last month officially abandoned a plan buy a stake in bankrupt iHeartMedia Inc., continues to express interest in the nation’s largest radio broadcaster, the Wall Street Journal reported. Liberty, which owns a controlling interest in satellite-radio-broadcasting company Sirius XM, is working on revamping its initial offer, one of the people said. The media company had offered to pay about $1.2 billion for a 40 percent stake in iHeartMedia before withdrawing its bid last month. Liberty’s interest in iHeartMedia sets up a potential bidding battle with California-based private-equity firm Silver Lake, the person said. Silver Lake, which has made an offer for a 20 percent stake in iHeart, has been in talks with the radio-station operator and its creditors about a potential deal.

The Weinstein Co., its buyer and creditors on Friday said that they reached a deal to increase the bankrupt film studio’s sales price by $2 million, to $289 million, to ensure the deal goes through, Reuters reported. Robert Del Genio, a senior managing director of business advisory firm FTI Consulting who is serving as Weinstein Co.’s chief restructuring officer, said in statement that the agreement “clears the path for this sale to close.” The deal follows a bid last month by the Weinstein Co. to cut its sales price to $287 million to settle disputes that broke out after it announced a plan in May to sell its library, television shows and unreleased movies to Lantern Capital Partners for $310 million. Weinstein Co. said that it needed to cut the sales price to close the transaction because it was nearly out of cash and financing deadlines for the sale were approaching fast. Weinstein Co. had won bankruptcy court approval for the $310 million sale, but before it could close disputes broke out over so-called cure amounts the studio would have to pay to exit or transfer certain contracts.

Nineteen members of Congress sent a letter to the private-equity backers of Toys “R” Us Inc. questioning their role in the toy retailer’s bankruptcy and criticizing the leveraged-buyout model as an engine of business failure and job loss, the Wall Street Journal reported. The July 5 letter was addressed to the heads of KKR & Co., Bain Capital and Vornado Realty Trust and signed by 18 Democratic members of the House of Representatives and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). It asks whether the investment firms deliberately pushed Toys “R” Us into bankruptcy and encourages them to compensate the roughly 33,000 workers who lost their jobs. “Leveraged buyouts — such as those facilitated by your companies — often result in mass job loss, closure of profitable businesses and unnecessary financial burdens for local government,” the letter states. “Such buyouts harm communities, while investment managers walk away with significant gains.”

Comfort shoe company Rockport Co. said that it would scrap a planned bankruptcy auction of its assets after Boston-based private-equity firm Charlesbank was the only bidder for the company, the Wall Street Journal reported. The sale to Charlesbank Capital Partners LLC, which requires bankruptcy court approval, includes Rockport’s wholesale business, along with its Asia and Europe operations and retail stores. Rockport’s products are sold by retailers in 60 countries. Rockport filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in May, with $287 million in debt. It had changed hands a number of times in recent years before its bondholders took ownership last year. Adidas AG had acquired Rockport when it bought Reebok in 2006. In 2015, Adidas sold Rockport for $280 million to Boston firm Berkshire Partners and New Balance. Rockport’s biggest unsecured creditors in bankruptcy include Adidas, which claims it is owed more than $50 million.

As Toys “R” Us Inc. stores across the United States marked their final day in business on Friday, the bankrupt toy retailer posted a farewell message to customers on its website next to an image of its iconic Geoffrey the Giraffe mascot thanking them and urging them to “Play on!”, Reuters reported. “Thanks to each of you who shared your amazing journey to (and through) parenthood with us, and to every grandparent, aunt, uncle, brother and sister who’s built a couch-cushion rocket ship, made up a hero adventure, or invented something gooey,” the message said. “Promise us just this one thing: Don’t ever grow up. Play on!” the message, playing on the company’s famous jingle, added. More than 700 Toys “R” Us stores are shuttering in the United States. Toys “R” Us filed for chapter 11 protection in September hoping to restructure some $5 billion in debt, much of which stemmed from a $6.6 billion leveraged buyout by private equity firms in 2005.

Jose Garces has sweetened the pot to help cinch a sale of his restaurants in bankruptcy court, offering to pay $500,000 to M&T Bank to satisfy personal liens against him, Philly.com reported. Judge Jerrold N. Poslusny Jr. in Camden on Thursday heard details of a proposed sale agreement — totaling about $8.34 million — for Garces’ restaurants, management agreements, and catering division. The proposed buyer — Ballard Brands, a Louisiana food company that has been Garces’ longtime suitor — also announced that it had increased its cash offer by $1.5 million, to $3.5 million, the court heard. Garces’ own $500,000 and Ballard’s additional $1.5 million would boost the total price tag by $2 million from Ballard’s initial bankruptcy-court offer of about $6.34 million. The sale could be confirmed at a hearing July 9. Garces is expected to become a Ballard employee.

Relativity Media has reached an agreement with its unsecured creditors, clearing a significant obstacle to getting approval for a bankruptcy sale, Variety reported. Under the agreement, the creditors and their attorneys will receive up to $3.1 million. Attorneys announced the agreement yesterday in bankruptcy court in the Southern District of New York, but the deal must still be approved by the judge. Relativity declared bankruptcy for the second time in three years on May 3, and announced a proposed sale to its largest secured creditor, UltraV Holdings. UltraV has bid $40 million worth of its debt to take control of the moribund studio. At the time of the filing, Relativity also listed approximately $70 million in unsecured debt to 50 creditors.