Bankrupt women’s fashion and accessories retailer A’Gaci has canceled an auction of its assets that had been scheduled for today, saying that it received no qualified bids, the San Antonio Express-News reported. “Despite an active marketing process and due diligence from several potential buyers, no acceptable buyer emerged,” said Ian Peck, A’Gaci’s bankruptcy lawyer. “So the company decided to cancel the auction and not move forward with the sale process any further.” A’Gaci now is focused on developing a reorganization plan that will allow it to emerge from chapter 11 protection, he said. The retailer already has received support from various creditors regarding efforts to reorganize, he said. The company listed $37.3 million in assets and $54.7 million in liabilities in a February court filing. A’Gaci had no set minimum price when it solicited offers for the purchase of substantially all of its assets and liabilities, Peck said. No stalking-horse bidder was ever lined up. “You never want to schedule a party and then have no one come,” John Penn, a Dallas bankruptcy lawyer not involved in the case, said of the canceled auction. “You’re on a track for a sale and no one showed up to buy what you were selling.” Read more. https://www.expressnews.com/business/local/article/Bankrupt-retailer-A-…
A special episode of “Eye on Bankruptcy” focused on the next wave of retail cases will be taped before a live audience at the Annual Spring Meeting! Watch a preview. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIcjsgpQ85I&feature=youtu.be To register for the Annual Spring Meeting, please click here. http://www.abiasm.org.
A bankruptcy judge has given the green light for the sale of a Corpus Christi, Texas, plastics manufacturing plant owned by M&G USA Corp., a move that will allow for its completion, the Corpus Christi Caller Times reported. The sale of M&G's Corpus Christi plant was approved on March 28 by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan L. Shannon. The judge's order allows a newly formed joint venture — Corpus Christi Polymers — to purchase the still-under-construction plastics manufacturing plant, its desalination/boiler plant and certain M&G intellectual property for $1.125 billion. The price includes cash and "other capital contributions," according to a prior statement issued by Corpus Christi Polymers on March 21. The deal needed the court's approval before it could go forward.
The bankruptcy of a fleet of FirstEnergy Corp. power-generation businesses is pressuring an indebted Ohio electric corporation founded during the Cold War, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The chapter 11 cases filed on Saturday set up a showdown between several FirstEnergy subsidiaries and Ohio Valley Electric Corp. (OVEC) over a power purchasing deal that runs until 2040. FirstEnergy Solutions Corp., one of the bankrupt affiliates, was obligated to buy power under the agreement from two OVEC fossil fuel plants, providing nearly 5 percent of OVEC’s revenue, according to court documents. Now, FES is seeking bankruptcy-court orders to stop those payments, which it said would amount to $12 million a year, or $268 million through 2040. Read more.
Join experts at the "Power Industry: What's Next?" panel at the ABI Annual Spring Meeting to discuss future power-industry issues that you should know about. FTI Consulting's Carlyn Taylor provides a preview. To register, please click here.
The team winding down the remains of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. is planning to pay out $2.6 billion to creditors next week, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The distribution, the 15th since the investment bank failed in 2008, will bring the total payout in the firm’s bankruptcy to about $124.6 billion. The bulk of the cash has gone to pay so-called third-party, or non-Lehman, claims. Lehman said in a filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York on Thursday that its senior unsecured creditors — Lehman bondholders who were estimated to receive about 21 cents on the dollar when the bank’s bankruptcy plan went into effect in early 2012 — will have recovered more than double that amount, 44.6 cents, after the next distribution is completed. The chapter 11 payment plan for Lehman treats similarly situated creditors of its subsidiaries better than those of the parent. For example, general unsecured creditors of Lehman’s special finance unit, the heart of the failed investment bank’s derivatives business, have so far recovered more than 39 cents on the dollar, though they are limited to how much they can claim.
Las Vegas restaurateur Billy Richardson has acquired the Elephant Bar chain out of bankruptcy, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. Richardson, founder of Gen3 Hospitality, operates The Barrymore, Flour & Barley, Haute Doggery and other restaurants. His latest addition has a location at The District at Green Valley Ranch in Henderson, along with one in New Mexico and five in California. Elephant Bar filed for chapter 11 protection in October 2017 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Las Vegas. The chain also went bankrupt in 2014, albeit under different owners, and its restaurant tally shrank drastically in recent years. Richardson completed the purchase about a month ago. His group did not disclose the terms.
A judge has approved Brookfield Business Partners LP's $4.6 billion acquisition of Westinghouse Electric Co., setting up the company’s exit from bankruptcy under new ownership, the Wall Street Journal reported. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Wiles said yesterday that he will sign off on Westinghouse’s chapter 11 plan of reorganization which includes the Brookfield transaction and a settlement with creditors over how proceeds from the sale will be divvied up. The deal still must be approved by U.S. regulators. Westinghouse has said it expects the deal with Brookfield to close in the third quarter, subject to receiving regulatory approval and satisfying other closing conditions. Court approval of the deal caps a turbulent year for Westinghouse and gives the business a chance at a fresh start with a new owner. The deal will be financed by roughly $1 billion in equity and $3 billion in long-term debt and the assumption of other obligations, according to Brookfield.
