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Three more companies joined the ranks of those that have filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since the fall in oil prices, OilandGas360.com reported yesterday. The three companies had combined debt of approximately $367 million, bringing the total number of oil and gas producers to file for bankruptcy in 2016 to 58, and a total combined debt of $50.4 billion, according to Haynes and Boone’s Oil Patch Bankruptcy Monitor. The total number of North American oil and gas producers to file for bankruptcy since the beginning of 2015 is now at 102. The total secured and unsecured debt for those filings is approximately $67.8 billion. Read more. 

Get a better understanding of what happens when an oil, gas or other natural resources company goes bankrupt. Order your copy of ABI's revised and expanded When Gushers Go Dry: The Essentials of Oil & Gas Bankruptcy, Second Edition. 

Aerospace-parts manufacturer Fansteel Inc. filed for bankruptcy Tuesday, blaming its financial troubles on the U.S. military drawdown in Afghanistan and the drop in oil prices, Dow Jones Newswires reported yesterday. Fansteel, which along with its affiliates employs more than 600 people, filed for chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Des Moines, Iowa, seeking to restructure a debt load that tops $40 million. The company serves customers in the aerospace and defense industries, and its parts are used in U.S. military helicopters and aircraft carriers, court papers say. As oil fell to $35 a barrel, the Creston, Iowa-based company tried to refinance its debts with several banks. In May, the Fansteel board of directors replaced its top executives with a team of professionals that developed a turnaround plan, which was presented to regional banking lender Fifth Third Bank. Los Angeles-based credit fund TerraMar Capital later stepped in and purchased the debt from Fifth Third.

Tucson, Ariz.-based artificial heart maker SynCardia Systems will seek final approval of a bankruptcy sale of its assets to a proposed buyer on Friday, after no competing bids emerged, the Arizona Daily Star reported today. Approval of the asset sale would pave the way for SynCardia’s emergence from chapter 11 reorganization. SynCardia filed for chapter 11 on July 1 in Delaware, proposing to sell all of its assets to its senior secured creditor in an effort to save the company. Sindex SSI Lending LLC, an affiliate of Philadelphia-based Versa Capital, purchased about $22 million worth of SynCardia’s senior debt at a steep discount in June. Sindex bid $19 million of that debt in a credit bid for SynCardia, plus $150,000 in cash, to buy the company. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Mary F. Walrath will now consider final approval of the sale to Sindex on Friday.

Claire’s Stores Inc. delayed filing its quarterly report while it tallies the results of a bond swap designed to buy time for a turnaround of the troubled tween jewelry chain, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The retailer cited the impact of the pending exchange on its liquidity and capital resources, “as well as other aspects of its business and operations,” in a regulatory filing Wednesday. The report will be completed “as soon as practicable,” Claire’s said. Claire’s has been saddled by debt it took on in a 2007 leveraged buyout by Apollo Global Management LLC. The chain lost more than $500 million over the past three years as mall traffic slowed, competition from online and specialty stores gained momentum, and a rising U.S. dollar crimped overseas sales and profits. Chief Executive Officer Ron Marshall is trying to complete the debt swap amid the run-up to Halloween and Christmas, which were among Claire’s peak selling seasons in previous years. Read more.

Does bankruptcy still work for retail? Listen to the perspectives of bankruptcy judges and top practitioners at ABI’s Views from the Bench in Washington, D.C. on October 7. Register here. 

Golfsmith International Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy, hoping to reorganize or attract a buyer who can save the golf-gear retailer as the sport’s popularity fades in North America, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Golfsmith listed debt and assets of as much as $500 million each in its chapter filing yesterday, and said that it would try to sell part of the chain as a going concern while shutting some stores. If that fails, the Austin, Texas-based company will liquidate, according to a resolution by Golfsmith directors included in the chapter 11 filing. The company blamed an aggressive plan that began in 2011 to open bigger stores that cost more to operate just as golf began to lose popularity.

Bankruptcy Judge Benjamin Goldgar said at a hearing yesterday that billionaire investors Marc Rowan and David Bonderman are among Caesars Entertainment Corp. directors who must disclose details of their wealth to creditors of the casino holding company's bankrupt subsidiary, Reuters reported. Junior creditors of Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. Inc. (CEOC) convinced the court yesterday to force six of the parent's directors to prove they can contribute to CEOC's reorganization plan in exchange for releases from allegations of fraud. CEOC filed an $18 billion bankruptcy in January 2015. Junior creditors accuse directors of Caesars and its private equity sponsors Apollo Global Management LLC and TPG Capital of orchestrating a plan to strip CEOC of "crown jewels," such as the Linq Hotel & Casino complex in Las Vegas, prior to its bankruptcy.

Golfsmith, the world's largest golf retailer, has failed to find a buyer for itself and could file for chapter 11 protection in the coming days, according to a New York Post report. When reached by e-mail, a company spokesperson for Jefferies, the investment bank hired by Golfsmith to find a buyer, wouldn't comment specifically on the Golfsmith situation. But the representative did say that a public announcement regarding a transaction will be coming soon. Given the two possible scenarios — chapter 11 filing or new owners — it's possible that Golfsmith's four-year marriage with Golf Town, the Canadian-based retailer, is drawing to a close. The combined company, which is owned by private equity firm OMERS (Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System), has more than 150 stores in the U.S. and Canada. But the company's debt structure, reported to be $200 million in loans, is limiting its chances at profitability. Read more. 

Does bankruptcy still work for retail? Listen to the perspectives of bankruptcy judges and top practitioners at ABI’s Views from the Bench in Washington, D.C. on October 7. Register here. 

Denver-based Battalion Resources LLC has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing liabilities of about $83.4 million, the Denver Business Journal reported today. Associated with Battalion’s voluntary bankruptcy petition, filed Sept. 8, are the chapter 11 bankruptcies of three Storm Cat Energy subsidiaries. Battalion said in its petition to the court that its principal assets were in Sheridan and Campbell counties in Wyoming, and said its total assets had a value of $3.5 million. It listed total liabilities at $83.4 million, of which $39.9 million was owed to secured creditors, according to the petition. Battalion also said in court filings it had sold “substantially all” of its assets to Powder River Holdings as of Aug. 2. The company indicated in its petition that after administrative expenses are paid, there won’t be any money left to repay unsecured creditors. It estimated that its creditors numbered between 1,000 and 5,000. Read more. 

Get a better understanding of what happens when an oil, gas or other natural resources company goes bankrupt. Order your copy of ABI's revised and expanded When Gushers Go Dry: The Essentials of Oil & Gas Bankruptcy, Second Edition. 

Moody’s Investors Service said that U.S. oil bankruptcies haven’t been this “catastrophic” for lenders in a long time, in what may be the worst bust of any industry this century, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Creditors are recovering an average 21 percent of what they lent, compared with about 59 percent in past decades, the credit-rating agency said yesterday in a report that looks into lending to 15 exploration and production companies that filed for bankruptcy protection in 2015. That may be on par with, or worse than, the telecommunications industry collapse in 2001 and 2002, the study led by David Keisman said. High-yield bonds recovered a mere 6 percent, compared to 30 percent in previous years going back to 1987. Defaults in the oil and natural gas industry have been rising through a market slump that has exceeded two years as companies lacked the cash to make interest payments on their debt. Bankruptcies among U.S. producers so far this year are about twice the number among companies rated by Moody’s in all of 2015, the report said. The oil and gas figures have helped propel U.S. corporate defaults to the highest since 2009. Read more. 

Get a better understanding of what happens when an oil, gas or other natural resources company goes bankrupt. Order your copy of ABI's revised and expanded When Gushers Go Dry: The Essentials of Oil & Gas Bankruptcy, Second Edition.