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Peabody Energy Corp asked a U.S. judge on Wednesday to allow it to pay up to $11.9 million in bonuses for six top executives if the global coal producer meets performance targets and emerges from chapter 11 protection, Reuters reported yesterday. The incentive package, which for the first time includes targets for cleaning up coal pits, would raise the pay for the company's chief executive officer to $3.9 million from $1 million if all targets are met. Peabody said in a filing with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in St. Louis on Wednesday that the incentives for its executive leadership team will help the company maximize the value of its estate for the benefit of all stakeholders. For Peabody, the bonuses would be distributed to Chief Executive Officer Glenn Kellow, the presidents of its Australia and Americas units and the heads of the company's finance, marketing and legal departments.

Total U.S. commercial bankruptcy filings increased 10 percent in July 2016 over July of last year, according to data provided by Epiq Systems, Inc. Commercial filings totaled 2,922 in July 2016, up from the July 2015 total of 2,661. July is the ninth consecutive month with a year-over-year increase in commercial filings. However, total commercial chapter 11 filings decreased in July 2016, as the 355 filings were 45 percent less than the 645 commercial chapter 11 filings registered in July 2015. Total bankruptcy filings also declined 15 percent to 61,308 in July 2016, down from the July 2015 total of 71,875. Consumer filings were 58,386, dropping 16 percent from the July 2015 consumer filing total of 69,214.

Bankrupt solar company SunEdison plans to stop making interest payments on behalf of its two yieldcos, TerraForm Global Inc. and TerraForm Power LLC, due to its chapter 11 proceedings, Reuters reported yesterday. SunEdison had agreed to pay interest on senior notes issued by TerraForm Power and TerraForm Global, the two companies said yesterday. The two yieldcos called SunEdison's decision "invalid" and said they would contest the decision, saying that announcing the decision in a filing did not mean they had acknowledged it. They said that even if SunEdison failed to make the interest payments, they would be able to continue to service their debt with current liquidity and cash flow from operations. TerraForm Global said last month that SunEdison was looking to sell its interests in the yieldco.

Global Geophysical Services LLC, a seismic-data provider for the oil industry, filed for chapter 11 protection yesterday and will go out of business, less than two years after the company emerged from an earlier trip through bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Sean Gore, the company’s chief executive officer, blamed stubbornly low oil prices for its failure. Although benchmark U.S. oil prices have rebounded to more than $40 a barrel since hitting a 13-year low in February, they are still well below the $115 per barrel producers were getting as recently as the summer of 2014. The company, based in Missouri City, Texas, filed for chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Corpus Christi, listing assets and debts each in the range of $100 million to $500 million. Read more. (Subscription required.) 

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Logan’s Roadhouse Inc., a Nashville, Tenn.-based steakhouse chain with hundreds of locations, is preparing to file for chapter 11 protection, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The chapter 11 filing may come as soon as this month. The company, which uses the slogan “Where Steak Rules the Road,” has about 250 restaurants in 26 states. The move would follow an announcement that Logan’s was skipping debt payments due in April and planned to delay filing annual and quarterly earnings reports. The company also forged a forbearance agreement with lenders that expires on Aug. 15. Logan’s has suffered from declining sales and a broader restaurant slowdown, which has forced chains to rely more heavily on discounts. 

The two federal regulators in charge of reviewing the living wills of financial firms gave 38 companies, including Prudential Financial, Inc., another year to submit their wind-down plans, MorningConsult.com reported. The firms initially faced a Dec. 31 deadline to submit their living wills to the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The new deadline is Dec. 31, 2017. The companies receiving the extension range from foreign banks with U.S. operations — HSBC Holdings plc and BNP Paribas — to domestic financial institutions like Prudential, American International Group Inc., BB&T Corp. and Suntrust Banks Inc.

Dex Media, Inc., one of the largest national providers of local marketing solutions for local businesses, announced that it completed its financial restructuring and emerged from chapter 11 when its confirmed reorganization plan went into effect on July 29, the ABL Advisor reported yesterday. Dex Media was able to shed approximately $1.8 billion of debt during the restructuring. Dex Media is now a privately-owned company as previous shares of common stock have been canceled with no distribution to the holders of those shares. Per the reorganization plan, Dex Media’s previous Board of Directors has disbanded and its new six-member Board of Directors includes representatives from the holders of the company’s newly issued common stock.

A handful of SunEdison executives caught in a dispute with a government watchdog over their bankruptcy bonuses won a federal judge’s backing yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Stuart Bernstein overruled an objection from a U.S. Justice Department watchdog, who claimed 11 SunEdison vice presidents wield too much influence to be eligible for the programs. The judge said that because the 11 employees report to other officers and rely on policies put in place by more senior managers, they don’t qualify as company insiders and their compensation isn’t subject to stricter legal rules governing bankruptcy bonuses. Lawyers for the watchdog, U.S. Trustee William Harrington, said that SunEdison hadn’t revealed enough about the bonus program’s recipients. As senior executives, they said that the 11 employees should be set apart and treated differently than rank-and-file employees.

Seventy Seven Energy Inc. has completed its prepackaged restructuring and emerged from chapter 11 protection, the Tulsa (Okla.) World reported yesterday. The Oklahoma City-based oil-field services company said that it converted $1.1 billion in debt into equity. The bankruptcy process was completed with no disruption to employees, customers, suppliers or operations, the company said. Seventy Seven filed for bankruptcy protection on May 8 with $1.73 billion in debt and $1.78 billion in assets, according to bankruptcy filings. Under terms of the prepackaged reorganization plan, Seventy Seven's previous common shares were canceled. Read more. 

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