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Ruling on Texas Law, New York Judge Upsets Oil and Gas Pipelines
Goodrich Petroleum Skips Interest Payment
Goodrich Petroleum Corp. said that it won't make an interest payments due next week as it looks to complete a debt exchange, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. The Houston-based company announced yesterday that it won't make the payment on three sets of bonds — $5.8 million on 2019 senior bonds, $4 million on 2018 senior secured bonds and $3.3 million on junior secured bonds — due March 15. Goodrich announced that it won't make another set of interest payments due April 1, adding that it's looking to do a debt-for-equity exchange but could have to file for bankruptcy to execute a deal.

HomeTown Buffet, Affiliated Dining Chains File for Bankruptcy
The owner of HomeTown Buffet and other buffet dining chains filed for chapter 11 protection, blaming a lawsuit that was not disclosed when its current owner bought the businesses in August, Reuters reported yesterday. Buffets LLC, an affiliate of Food Management Partners, in August paid an undisclosed amount for the chains Old Country Buffet, Ryan's, Fire Mountain and Tahoe Joe's, in addition to HomeTown, according to Food Management Partners' website. Those chains, which operate 150 restaurants, were part of the bankruptcy filing yesterday, according to court documents. The firm that sold the restaurant chains in August did not disclose a pending lawsuit, which resulted in an $11.4 million judgment, according to a statement from Peter Donbavand of San Antonio, Texas-based Food Management Partners.

Removing an Employee Benefit Plan Trustee Is Proper in District Court
Judge to Consider Letting Quicksilver Exit Pipeline Deals
Quicksilver Resources Inc.’s bid to tear up pipeline agreements ahead of the sale of its oil-and-natural gas drilling operations raised novel and perplexing legal questions that a bankruptcy judge wants time to consider, the Wall Street Journal reported today. “I will do my best” to decide the issue, a condition of Quicksilver’s pending sale, by the company’s March 31 deadline to close the $245 million deal, Bankruptcy Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein said on Friday. Pipeline operators and midstream operators are closely watching Fort Worth, Texas-based Quicksilver and other oil exploration and production bankruptcies out of fear that rulings letting these companies exit their contracts — negotiated before oil prices took a nosedive, and therefore favorable to pipeline companies — could spur a mass exodus. More importantly to Quicksilver, buyer BlueStone Natural Resources II LLC said that it would walk away from its $245 million cash offer if there is a risk it would be bound by Quicksilver’s pipeline agreements with Crestwood Midstream Partners LP. Read more. (Subscription required.)
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Get a better understanding of what happens when an oil, gas or other natural resources company goes bankrupt with ABI’s When Gushers Go Dry: The Essentials of Oil & Gas Bankruptcy.

For-Profit College Files Bankruptcy, Owes $19.5 Million to Landlord
The parent of for-profit Mattia College filed for chapter 11 protection on Feb. 29 shortly after it closed its schools in West Kendall and Doral, the South Florida Business Journal reported today. Professional Training Centers listed assets and liabilities both in the range of $1 million to $10 million. It’s owned by Antonio Mattia, and it is likely the case will be converted into a chapter 7 liquidation, according to court filings. Mattia College, which provided training for medical and dental assistants, lost its accreditation status and its ability to receive government-backed student loans. It had more than 500 students and 100 employees before it closed, according to a motion to convert the case to chapter 7 liquidation by U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee Guy Gebhardt.

Abengoa Bioenergy Gets Interim Bankruptcy Loan to Pay Wages
Abengoa Bioenergy US Holding LLC, a unit of Spanish conglomerate Abengoa SA, received interim financing to pay wages and keep the lights on while it tries to reorganize under chapter 11 protection, according to a court ruling on yesterday, Reuters reported. Abengoa Bioenergy filed for bankruptcy protection last week. Lawyers said yesterday that it is a guarantor on more than $6 billion in liabilities linked to its Spanish parent's debt structure, which tops $20 billion. Abengoa, a global engineering and clean energy company, is in the midst of a debt restructuring. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kathy Surratt-States approved the debtor-in-possession or DIP loan on an interim basis over objections from grain suppliers who are owed money by Abengoa Bioenergy and said they feared the cash would end up in Spain.
