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Hanjin Shipping Puts Asia-U.S. Shipping Network Up for Sale

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South Korea's Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd. is selling major businesses, including its Asia to U.S. route network, and will receive letters of intent by Oct. 28, Reuters reported today. The sale comes as creditors line up claims less than two months after the company applied for court receivership as the first major shipping line to be dragged down by global industry overcapacity and comparatively low freight rates. The firm had total debt of 6.03 trillion won ($5.41 billion) as of the end of June, according to its court filing. Hanjin Shipping received court approval to seek buyers for assets in order to pay back creditors now in the process of making claims until Oct. 25.

Takata Said to Hire Weil Gotshal With Bankruptcy an Option

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Takata Corp., whose defective airbag inflators triggered the biggest recall in auto industry history, hired law firm Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP to help it weigh options that could include bankruptcy or a sale, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. The Japanese manufacturer might choose to seek court protection just for its U.S. unit, said one of the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. No final decisions have been made and Tokyo-based Takata continues to seek buyers, the people said. Takata is evaluating at least five bids as it confronts the potentially massive cost of recalling 100 million faulty airbag inflators worldwide and lawsuits tied to at least 16 deaths and numerous injuries. The airbags tend to degrade over time and erupt, sending shrapnel through the vehicle’s cabin.

Hanjin, Ashley Furniture Battle Over Cargoes, Storage Fees

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More than a month after Hanjin Shipping Co. sought bankruptcy protection in South Korea and in courts around the world, customers are still fighting with the company over how to retrieve their goods, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Ashley Furniture Industries Inc. said that it has been left on the hook for cleaning up the logistical mess in the wake of Hanjin’s bankruptcy and is asking a U.S. judge to allow it to withhold damages from fees it owes to Hanjin. The South Korean shipping company, however, is refusing to release some of Ashley Furniture’s cargo until it is paid in full. Some of Ashley Furniture’s containers have been delivered or otherwise retrieved by the company, many of which are weeks behind schedule. Other containers, still stocked with goods, are floating on Hanjin ships or sitting idle on port tarmacs waiting to be released by the shipper. During a hearing Friday in Newark, N.J., lawyers for Ashley Furniture asked Bankruptcy Judge John Sherwood to help it recover damages of more than $1 million it said that it is owed for having to pick up containers delivered to the wrong ports.

Child Locator Tech Firm Looks for Buyer in Bankruptcy

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Child locator technology company Filip Technologies Inc. and several affiliates filed for bankruptcy protection Wednesday in search of a buyer for a business built around the desire of parents to keep tabs on youngsters, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Filip’s wearable tech products picked up investors and won awards, but the company ran into financial trouble. Assets are worth less than $10 million, while debts top $10 million, according to documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. An affiliate of AT&T has been keeping Filip afloat and is offering to finance a bankruptcy process aimed at getting to a sale early in November. Some 13,000 U.S. families are using the Filip service, which is offered through wireless carriers. The company was forced to spend heavily on early-stage product development and was dependent on short-term funding that put it under pressure, court papers say. In 2015, Filip exited the device business and focused on trying to sell the service that connects parents and children in an effort to bring in revenue.

Warren Resources Emerges from Bankruptcy

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Warren Resources Inc. said it's closing its Houston office after the company recently emerged from bankruptcy, the Houston Business Journal reported yesterday. At the time of its bankruptcy filing, the company had $229.7 million in total assets and $545.2 million in debt, according to court documents. A bankruptcy court on Sept. 14 confirmed the Denver-based company's plan of reorganization following a chapter 11 filing June 2, according to an Oct. 5 press release. Warren Resources also plans to shut down its office in Plano, Texas, and reduce leased space in other locations. But the company said that it will maintain a small team in Denver; Long Beach, Calif; Rollins and Casper, Wyo.; and Tunkhannock, Pa. Read more.

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Arch Coal Emerges from Chapter 11 Protection

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Arch Coal says it has emerged from chapter 11 protection and its stock will trade again on the New York Stock Exchange today, the Associated Press reported. The company, which has been hurt by weakening demand for coal, filed for bankruptcy protection nearly eight months ago to reduce its debt. Several other coal companies have filed for bankruptcy protection recently as electric power companies opt to use natural gas instead of coal, because it is cheaper and produces less pollution than coal. Arch Coal says that it now has $363 million in debt and $300 million in cash. The company continued to operate while it was under bankruptcy protection.

SunEdison Said to Map Restructuring Plan With TerraForm Stake

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Almost six months after filing the biggest U.S. bankruptcy of 2016, SunEdison Inc. is taking steps to work out a reorganization plan without liquidating a prize asset: its controlling stake in TerraForm Power Inc., Bloomberg News reported today. TerraForm Power, a so-called yieldco that owns solar and wind projects developed by its parent, has begun talks with SunEdison’s creditors to start the process of evaluating the TerraForm assets. Under such a reorganization, SunEdison could keep its shares in the yieldco and restructure around it. This latest stage in the bankruptcy follows months in which SunEdison marketed solar and wind projects around the world without declaring outright whether it would emerge from chapter 11 as a going concern or liquidate altogether. The company in July said  that it had extended a deadline to present lenders with a plan — without specifying a new date.