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An independent examiner’s report made public on Tuesday recommended further investigation into the finances of Shepherd University, a nonprofit Christian college in Los Angeles, and opened the door to future lawsuits against the university’s founder, former officers and board members, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. In a 120-page report filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles, Mark Hashimoto, the court-approved examiner, said he “struggled to find any semblance of regular management” of the California school and said its reorganization is unlikely. Shepherd began experiencing financial trouble in 2014, failing to pay taxes and taking on high-interest, short-term loans to keep its doors open, according to the report. Eventually, the high financing costs, continued spending and dwindling donations caught up with the university, which sought chapter 11 protection August. Hashimoto’s report is based on an analysis of available financial documentation as well as interviews with former managers and board members. However, Hashimoto, who was appointed examiner in October, says the university had essentially “no accounting internal controls or cash procedures.” Bank statements and cancelled checks for 2014, 2015 and much of 2016 were nowhere to be found, and Hashimoto said that Shepherd has not been keeping track of debts it continues to accrue while in bankruptcy.

Auto-parts maker Takata Corp. moved a step closer Tuesday to a $1.58 billion sale to Key Safety Systems, a deal it needs to complete to make good on a Justice Department settlement over its defective air bags, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Judge Brendan Shannon approved a restructuring-support agreement that locks in backing for the deal from major car makers, which are Takata’s biggest customers and, in many cases, co-defendants with the Japanese company in lawsuits over air-bag damages. The sale to Key is the core of the chapter 11 bankruptcy plan designed to resolve damage claims stemming from exploding air bags, which have been linked to a number of deaths and injuries worldwide, and forced the largest recall effort in U.S. automotive history. Claims for personal or economic injury due to the air bags drove Takata to bankruptcy. The sale to Key preserves part of the business, the lines that weren’t involved in the air-bag troubles. Creditors must vote upon the chapter 11 plan itself, which must in turn also be approved by Judge Shannon. Bankruptcy plan hearings are scheduled to start early next year in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., where Takata sought bankruptcy protection.

Real-estate developer Woodbridge Group of Companies has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it grapples with questions about its fundraising practices from the Securities and Exchange Commission, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The bankruptcy filing means thousands of individual investors, including retirees that helped finance Woodbridge’s real estate dealings, are at risk of losing hundreds of millions of dollars in Woodbridge’s chapter 11 case. The bankruptcy filing may also send tremors through the Southern California real-estate market, where many of the company’s properties — with an estimated $650 million to $750 million — are located. Woodbridge owns the Owlwood estate, a 1930s Italian Renaissance-style mansion once owned by the pop duo Sonny and Cher. A Woodbridge affiliate paid $90 million for Owlwood in September 2016 and has it on the market for $180 million. Owlwood was purchased the same month the SEC started asking questions about Woodbridge and its practice of raising money from mom-and-pop retail investors.

A Delaware corporate law judge has backed a bid to oust distressed company manager Lynn Tilton from control of some of the companies she has been running, finding the businesses belong to investors that once backed her but now want her gone, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The ruling on Thursday from Vice Chancellor Joseph Slights of Delaware’s Court of Chancery is a setback for Tilton, a pioneer in raising investor funds to salvage troubled companies. She recently was cleared of fraud charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission but failed to persuade the Delaware judge that she is the true owner and rightful manager of some of the most valuable companies in her collection of distressed businesses. “We strongly disagree with this ruling and will immediately appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court,“ said a representative for Patriarch Partners, Tilton’s management and investment firm. The representative called the lawsuit “nothing more than a bad-faith attempt” to oust Tilton from control of the companies.

Gawker Media LLC bankruptcy lawyers said yesterday that Peter Thiel shouldn’t be allowed to bid on its namesake blog, Gawker.com, unless the billionaire venture capitalist agrees to settle or otherwise end potential legal claims Gawker is pursuing against him related to the former blog publisher’s demise, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The response comes a week after Thiel demanded he be allowed to participate in a continuing sale process for Gawker, which filed for bankruptcy after losing a lawsuit filed by wrestler Hulk Hogan and financed by Thiel. His lawyers have argued that he is the “the most able and logical purchaser” for Gawker.com but that so far, his requests to participate in the sale process have been rebuffed. Gawker Media’s lawyers said yesterday that William Holden, a managing director at professional services firm Dacarba LLC who is overseeing the sale process, “has good reason to doubt” that Thiel’s involvement at this time would maximize the potential value in Gawker.com or even result in a good-faith bid from Thiel for the website. Among the concerns Gawker Media’s lawyers cite is what they describe as Thiel’s “long history of vindictive conduct” against the publisher.