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Caesars Entertainment Corp.’s main casino operating unit has begun a process to raise up to $3.8 billion of cash needed to exit a contentious two-year bankruptcy, Reuters reported yesterday. After more than a year of legal battles, the Caesars subsidiary last month secured support from the vast majority of its creditors for a wide-ranging plan to emerge from bankruptcy early next year. Now Caesars Entertainment Operating Co Inc. is seeking financing for its reorganization plan, which entails splitting Caesars' main bankrupt unit into a casino operator and real estate investment trust (REIT), both controlled by creditors. If the plan wins bankruptcy court approval at a trial set for January, CEOC must have at least $1.8 billion in new financing for the REIT and $1.2 billion for the operating company before the reorganization can become effective.

For the second time in five years, San Antonio furniture maker KLN Steel Products Co. LLC has sought bankruptcy protection from creditors, the San Antonio Express-News reported today. KLN and its Dallas-based parent company, AGS Enterprises Inc., each filed emergency chapter 11 bankruptcy petitions on Wednesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas. AGS does business as Avteq Inc. KLN, which makes furniture for military barracks and universities, reported both assets and liabilities in the range of $1 million to $10 million. The filing comes as the company is defending itself against a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that it defrauded the federal government out of millions of dollars. The complaint was brought by a rival company, and KLN President Kelly O’Donnell previously has said that the allegations are untrue. Read more. 

A panel of experts at ABI’s Winter Leadership Conference will discuss the myriad reasons that chapter 22s and chapter 33s occur and the lessons learned from those cases. For more information and to register, please click here. 

Total U.S. commercial bankruptcy filings increased 21 percent in October 2016 over October of last year, according to data provided by Epiq Systems, Inc. Commercial filings totaled 3,023 in October 2016, up from the October 2015 total of 2,491. October is the twelfth consecutive month with a year-over-year increase in commercial filings. However, total commercial chapter 11 filings decreased in October 2016, as the 401 filings were 7 percent less than the 431 commercial chapter 11 filings registered in October 2015. The total bankruptcy filings of 63,042 in October 2016 represented a 10 percent decrease from the October 2015 total of 70,254. Consumer filings also decreased as the 60,019 filings in October 2016 were down 11 percent from the October 2015 consumer filing total of 67,763. Click here to read the full statistical press release.

Finish Line Inc. is looking for a buyer for its JackRabbit chain of specialty running-shoe stores, marking a turnabout from an ambitious expansion in that category, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The division, which has about 70 locations under various names, could draw interest from private equity firms and other sporting-goods chains. Finish Line previously expanded by buying up small, regional running stores, including its 2011 acquisition of the Running Co. After buying New York-based JackRabbit, it decided last year to rebrand all its specialty running stores with that name.

An Orlando, Fla.-based motorcoach company that catered to Brazilian tourists is facing numerous claims of unpaid debts and has filed for chapter 11 protection, the Orlando Sentinel reported today. Its founder, Claudio Cipeda, has claimed 30 years of experience in the Brazilian travel business world. His companies have claimed to own 25 vehicles, including 15 luxury coaches, operating out of three cities in recent years. VHS Leasing Co. has filed a federal lawsuit against Alltour for more than $500,000. The company also battled an overtime lawsuit filed by three Miami drivers. U.S. District Judge Lawrence King ruled in favor of Alltour last year, but the drivers have appealed the case.

DirectBuy, one of the few national brands to emerge from Northwest Indiana, has filed for bankruptcy and is selling itself to creditors, NWI.com reported yesterday. The Merrillville, Ind.-based buying club, which purports to offers members straight-from-the-manufacturer prices at showrooms, said that it has reached an agreement with current lenders, who are unnamed. DirectBuy once had a million members nationwide, and more than 160 showrooms in the United States and Canada. The company filed for chapter 11 protection in Delaware, and plans to continue to operate as it reorganizes its debt.