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The producer of “American Idol” won court approval to shed hundreds of millions of dollars of debt, and cleared a path toward working with Simon Fuller, the creator of the franchise, after it exits bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Core Entertainment, which has continued to produce television programs including "So You Think You Can Dance" while in bankruptcy, won approval of a plan yesterday that includes a settlement with a committee of creditors and the cancellation of equity that had been owned by Apollo Global Management LLC and Twenty-First Century Fox Inc, according to court papers. Bankruptcy Judge <b>Stuart Bernstein</b> approved the plan yesterday, after hearing that most creditors had voted in favor, and all written objections had been resolved before the hearing, including one from Fuller.

NJOY Inc., one of the nation’s largest electronic cigarette makers, filed for bankruptcy in Delaware on Sept. 16, owing close to $4 million in unpaid legal fees to several big firms, including DLA Piper and Goodwin Procter, the National Law Journal reported yesterday. The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company seeks to remain in business while selling off assets is a leading manufacturer and distributor of e-cigarettes and other vaping products. Jeffrey Weiss, NJOY’s general counsel and interim president, said in a declaration of his own that the company’s bankruptcy was attributed to several issues. Among them were the market failure of NJOY’s King 2.0 disposable e-cigarette in 2013 and its unsuccessful attempt at a rebranding in 2014. Another contributing factor to NJOY’s chapter 11 filing was the substantial costs incurred by the company this year in order to comply with a series of regulations announced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in May controlling the registration and distribution of e-cigarettes, according to Weiss’ declaration.

Caesars Entertainment Corp. will now contribute more than $5 billion to its operating unit’s restructuring in its final settlement offer to disgruntled bondholders, the Wall Street Journal reported today. David Seligman, a lawyer for the bankrupt Caesars Entertainment Operating Co., or CEOC, unit, said in bankruptcy court that a prior pledge of about $4 billion has increased by about $1.2 billion, which he called the “best and final proposal” in long-running negotiations with CEOC creditors and Caesars. The increased value includes setting additional Caesars equity aside for CEOC’s creditors, the result of current Caesars backers Apollo Global Management and TPG agreeing to surrender their equity, valued at more than $950 million, in the company. Another $100 million will come from directors’ and officers’ insurance policies, Seligman said.

Takata Corp. shares fell 12 percent in Tokyo trading as bidders for the air-bag maker were said to consider the possibility of some form of bankruptcy proceedings for the Japanese company behind the auto industry’s biggest ever safety recall, Bloomberg News reported today. Bidders for Tokyo-based Takata have been asked to submit their proposals by early this week, and suitors include Carlyle Group LP, which is working with Chinese-owned air-bag manufacturer Key Safety Systems Inc.; Daicel Corp., a Japanese manufacturer of air-bag inflators that’s jointly bidding with Bain Capital; and KKR & Co. Some of the bidders are considering the possibility of bankruptcy proceedings for Takata as an option to mitigate liabilities. Takata aims to shortlist two to three candidates by October.