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Quicksilver Resources Creditors Move to Block Cash Pact Payments

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Creditors say that Quicksilver Resources Inc.’s cash will be gone in a year if the distressed Texas oil-and-gas company gets its way on a bankruptcy financing package designed to appease senior lenders, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. The company is seeking court approval of agreements that would require, among other things, the payment of $73 million in interest over the next year to one group of senior lenders, lawyers for creditors say. Quicksilver has said that concessions to senior lenders are necessary if it is to prevent them from seizing the cash it is using to run the company.

Analysis: Court Filing Lists Many Errors that Helped Kill Revel Casino

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The former owners of the Revel casino are acknowledging a long list of mistakes that helped kill the $2.4 billion resort, including an onerous energy contract that strangled it from the get-go, the Associated Press reported yesterday. A proposed disclosure statement for its bankruptcy case filed on Monday includes a history of Revel, which shut down last September without having turned a profit. The filing puts much of the responsibility on Revel's initial management, led by former CEO Kevin DeSanctis. It lists problems from construction cost overruns, taking on too much debt, the failure to attract day-tripping gamblers, pricey food and beverages and startup glitches with marketing and technology. But one of the costliest missteps — and one that continues to plague Revel now, even as a shuttered building — was its contract with its utility provider.

Aereo Settles Broadcasters’ Claims for Penny on the Dollar

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Aereo Inc. agreed to pay CBS Corp. and other broadcasters a total of $950,000 to resolve copyright claims totaling more than $99 million as the online-TV service backed by Barry Diller seeks to wind down in chapter 11, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The deal to pay less than a penny on the dollar would resolve all litigation among the companies, including Aereo’s lawsuit accusing the broadcasters of intentionally botching its asset auction, according to a filing Monday in federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan. The deal, backed by all the broadcasters, would leave Aereo with $811,000 to pay non-broadcast creditors with claims totaling $7.5 million, the company said. A hearing to approve the accord was set for May 7.
 

With Settlement, Darkened Revel Moves Closer to Bankruptcy Exit

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Revel AC Inc., the former owner of the Revel Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, N.J., took a decisive step toward winding down its chapter 11 case yesterday after a judge approved a settlement that divvies up the proceeds from the recent sale of the resort to a Florida developer, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported yesterday. Following a hearing in Camden, N.J., Bankruptcy Judge Gloria Burns said that she would sign an order that sets aside about $32 million of the $82 million in sale proceeds for creditors, lawyers and other administrative expenses. The settlement reserves $1.6 million for unsecured creditors, $150,000 of which may be used to fund future litigation against Revel's estate or others. The settlement also calls for $10 million for senior lender J.P. Morgan, $13.5 million for unpaid legal fees and administrative expenses and $7 million to pay for any future administrative costs associated with winding down the case.

Caesars Creditors Try to Disqualify Kirkland

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Kirkland & Ellis is squaring off in bankruptcy court with a committee representing the junior secured noteholders in the reorganization of client Caesars Entertainment Operating Co., Bloomberg BNA reported yesterday. The committee has asked a judge to disqualify Kirkland, claiming the firm is conflicted because it has represented the casino company’s majority owners, Apollo Global Management LLC and TPG Capital, on unrelated matters. The committee is also claiming that the firm improperly received almost $10 million in fees on the eve of the company’s Jan. 15 bankruptcy. Kirkland had fought to keep the reorganization before Bankruptcy Judge A. Benjamin Goldgar in Chicago, where the law firm has its roots, while the junior noteholders wanted the bankruptcy to unfold in Wilmington, Delaware. Briefs were submitted yesterday, and Judge Goldgar has set a hearing for April 23.

Energy Future Creditors Seek $431 Million Bankruptcy Payment

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A group of hedge funds is pushing to extract an extra $431 million from bankrupt Energy Future Holdings Corp., claiming they’re entitled to the money because the power company paid off its debt to them early, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. BlueMountain Capital Management LLC, Cyrus Capital Partners LP and Halcyon Asset Management LLC asked a federal judge yesterday to let them try to overturn Energy Future’s decision to refinance almost $3 billion in first-lien notes without paying them a “make-whole” premium. The hedge funds and other noteholders claim they should get the money to compensate them for lost interest. 

GM Car Owners to Fight On for Billions After Bankruptcy Ruling

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General Motors Co. car owners will still seek $7.5 billion for the diminished value of recalled vehicles, despite a ruling that largely freed the automaker from liability for wrongdoing before its 2009 bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. That number was supplied by a lawyer for car owners the day after Bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerber upheld GM’s shield against claims tied to actions taken before its bailout. The attorney, Steve Berman, said that 10 million is a conservative estimate of the number of drivers still eligible to sue for about $750 each after Wednesday’s decision. The litigation stems from last year’s recall of cars for faulty ignition switches, which grew to cover GM vehicles for a number of flaws. Read more.

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PricewaterhouseCoopers to Pay $65 Million to Resolve Lawsuit over MF Global

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PricewaterhouseCoopers agreed to pay $65 million in cash to settle a lawsuit claiming it fraudulently deceived MF Global Holdings Ltd. investors about its auditing of the now-defunct brokerage, which was run by former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, Reuters reported on Friday. The preliminary settlement with investors in MF Global's common stock, bonds and convertible debt was disclosed in papers filed on Friday with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, and requires court approval. It resolves class action claims that PwC in 2010 and 2011 falsely certified that it had properly audited MF Global's financials and internal controls, and knew about or recklessly disregarded problems that contributed to the brokerage's Oct. 31, 2011, bankruptcy. PwC denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle. The lead plaintiffs are the Virginia Retirement System and the Province of Alberta, Canada.

Protections in Place for Former Lifestyle Lift Patients, Employees

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The sudden shutdown in March of plastic surgery chain Lifestyle Lift has created confusion for patients looking for refunds on scheduled services that never happened, the Wall Street Journal’s Bankruptcy Beat Blog reported yesterday. The company’s 400 laid-off employees, meanwhile, have been scrambling to find answers to questions about incomplete final paychecks and how to access retirement benefits. Now, with Lifestyle Lift under the protection of a Detroit bankruptcy court, clarity over what happens next is slowly coming into focus. This week, a bankruptcy judge put the company’s wind-down into the hands of a court-appointed chapter 11 trustee, Detroit-based Basil Simon. The judge also appointed a patient care ombudsman, Deborah Fish, to ensure patient files are safeguarded and privacy issues are addressed.

IRS Seeks $3.2 Billion from Samuel Wyly and His Brother's Estate

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The Internal Revenue Service is seeking to recoup $3.22 billion from Texas businessman Samuel Wyly and the estate of his late brother Charles Wyly, after the brothers allegedly hid income by setting up sham overseas trusts, Reuters reported yesterday. According to claims filings on Wednesday in bankruptcy court, the IRS believes that Samuel Wyly owes $2.03 billion in back taxes, interest and penalties, while his brother's estate owes $1.19 billion. The IRS filed its claims after a Manhattan federal judge on Feb. 26 ordered Samuel Wyly and Charles Wyly's estate to pay $299.4 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, after a jury last May found them liable for securities fraud. Both defendants are appealing that judgment.