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A company that makes tubs of protein-shake powder for bodybuilders is suing the organizers of the upcoming Mr. Olympia contest to try to block them from making major sponsorship deals with the manufacturer’s competitors, the Wall Street Journal reported today. With its lawsuit, Connecticut-based Ultimate Nutrition Inc. said that the organizers of Mr. Olympia — the top U.S. bodybuilding competition, held in Las Vegas — are advertising new sponsorship deals for companies that want their “brand front and center” at the Sept. 17-20 event. Those offers infringe on Ultimate Nutrition’s exclusive sponsorship deal, the company said. Officials for Ultimate Nutrition, which makes nutritional supplements to enhanced athletic performance and fitness, signed a $626,800 sponsorship contract in May, enabling it to become the “exclusive title sponsor” for a seventh year, according to documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Hartford. The deal meant Ultimate Nutrition will have its logo “prominently placed” on the competition’s stage, at the press conference setup and throughout a fitness expo that runs throughout the weekend. The new sponsorship opportunities “substantially undermine the prominence that the Ultimate Nutrition logo is required to be given by Olympia,” Ultimate Nutrition’s lawyers said in court papers.

Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain yesterday said Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. could make changes to its collective-bargaining agreements with union employees as the supermarket chain braces for its first swath of store closings, but he noted that some of the requested provisions must be changed to be more employee-friendly, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Judge Drain approved the company's request to avoid so-called bumping provisions that allow employees in closing stores to take jobs of more junior employees at other locations, but he ordered A&P to increase the amount of severance money it immediately pays to workers being let go. An A&P lawyer said that the company had reached a compromise on the bumping provisions with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Local 1776, which represents 1,078 A&P employees, but not ones representing the company's other 27,400 or so workers. That deal allows a one-time move where senior workers in some of the 25 closing stores can take the jobs of junior employees at locations that remain open. The store closures are set to begin later this week.

Republic Airways Holdings Inc. may be moving closer to a possible bankruptcy after national Teamster officials backed a local pilot union’s decision against voting on the carrier’s final contract offer Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The Teamsters “will not take the extraordinary step of ordering an election over the unanimous and emphatic objections of Local 357’s democratically elected local leadership,” General President James Hoffa said in a letter yesterday to Local 357. Republic shares plunged in late trading on the Teamsters’ decision, because the airline has said it might be forced into a court-supervised restructuring if a new contract isn’t secured. A chapter 11 filing is one possibility, Matt Koscal, vice president of human resources at Republic, said on Aug. 21.

GT Advanced Technologies Inc., which is trying to emerge from bankruptcy after losing its deal to supply scratch-resistant smartphone screens to Apple Inc., said yesterday that it was reducing its workforce by 40 percent in a bid to cut costs, MarketWatch.com reported yesterday. The company, which had already laid off nearly 700 workers at a former Arizona sapphire-manufacturing facility, said that the further cuts will save it $20 million a year and help it “right size” its costs after exiting chapter 11, according to court papers. A group of GT Advanced bondholders put up $95 million to fund the company’s bankruptcy restructuring. The company is using the cash to fund a revised plan that calls for the ex-Apple supplier to return to its roots of making industrial and solar equipment. A downsized GT Advanced still hopes to exit chapter 11 early next year.

The bankruptcy judge for Baha Mar Ltd. on Friday outlined two possible middle-ground rulings on whether to dismiss the resort developer’s bankruptcy case and said he would present his decision as soon as possible, likely next month, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey heard arguments Friday on motions from two Chinese national companies — its lender, the Export-Import Bank of China, and its contractor, a China State Engineering Corp. subsidiary called China Construction America — that want the case decided in Bahamian court. Judge Carey presented two possible alternatives to a simple confirmation or denial during the hearing: allowing the case to continue but requiring the Bahamian court to approve the bankruptcy plan as a stipulation for its confirmation, and suspending the proceeding rather than dismissing it outright. As he considers his decision, Judge Carey urged the parties to return to negotiations.

Santa Fe Gold Corp. announced that it and three of its subsidiaries filed for chapter 11 protection yesterday, according to a company press release. The company continues to operate as debtors in possession, in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Bankruptcy Code and orders of the court. Santa Fe, based in Lordsburg, N.M., is being advised by the investment banking firm of Canaccord Genuity Inc.

Republic Airways Holdings Inc.’s future was in doubt after the local pilots’ union recommended against allowing members to vote on the carrier’s contract offer, Bloomberg News reported today.  The leadership of the Teamsters’ local is objecting to language in the contract preventing it from encouraging members from taking positions at other regional airlines, Local 357 President Jim Clark said. The national union could override the local’s decision and present it to members, he said. The lack of an agreement is one reason behind a pilot shortage that Republic has warned threatens the company’s future. The alternative to an accord is court-supervised restructuring, said Matt Koscal, vice president of human resources for the carrier, which makes regional flights for larger airlines.

Peabody Energy Corp. hired Lazard Ltd. to advise the coal miner how to restructure its $6.3 billion of debt, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The largest U.S. coal producer, which is suffering from a collapse in demand for the commodity, is talking to creditors about ways to cut its debt load, including swapping obligations for new shares or convertible notes. That kind of arrangement could allow the company to avoid filing for bankruptcy, which other miners have done in the current coal slump. One of Peabody’s rivals, Arch Coal Inc., is seeking to stave off a bankruptcy filing by doing a debt swap with its creditors. Shares in Arch Coal have tripled since it was reported on Aug. 19 that the company was seeking a compromise with lenders that would allow such a deal.

USA Discounters Ltd. made its debut in bankruptcy court Wednesday seeking to use its lenders' cash as the retailer winds down business amid a multistate probe into its business practices, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. The Norfolk, Va., company, a retailer accused of misleading U.S. service members, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday and plans to liquidate its remaining assets and distribute the proceeds to creditors. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi said that USA Discounters could use its lenders' cash to pay its remaining employees who are in charge of liquidating the retailer's remaining assets. Those assets comprise $114 million in accounts receivable and seven still-open Fletcher's Jewelers stores.

USA Discounters Ltd., a retailer accused of misleading U.S. service members, filed for bankruptcy protection and plans to wind down its business, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Until recently, USA Discounters sold furniture, appliances, electronics, jewelry and other products from stores located near military bases, often financing such purchases through its own credit program. The company cited the tough retail climate, a defaulted loan and various governmental actions regarding its operations as factors for the chapter 11 filing. Last year, the retailer agreed to pay a $50,000 civil penalty to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and to stop charging military customers a fee to obtain certain financial protections, following an investigation by the agency. USA Discounters didn’t admit or deny any wrongdoing. The company currently faces a multi-state investigation from several attorneys general into its business practices. In the bankruptcy papers filed on Monday, USA Discounters says that it is cooperating with the probe.