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LightSquared in Step Toward Renewal as FCC Asks About Licenses

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U.S. regulators asked for public input yesterday on whether to assign licenses for airwaves held by LightSquared Inc. to the reorganized wireless company now emerging from bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The Federal Communications Commission asked for comments beginning July 1 and concluding July 20 on LightSquared’s request to assign the licenses to the reorganized entity under a plan approved by a bankruptcy court. The plan would shift control from Harbinger Capital Partners Funds, controlled by Philip Falcone, to JPMorgan Chase & Co., Fortress Investment Group LLC and Jeffrey Aronson and Mark Gallogly, through Centerbridge Partners LP, the FCC said.

Colt’s Lenders Agree to Restructuring Pact as Bankruptcy Weighed

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Colt Defense LLC, the hand-gun maker that skipped an interest payment last month, has entered into a restructuring agreement with loan lenders to provide the necessary funding for a prepackaged bankruptcy plan, Bloomberg News reported today. The agreement includes $15 million in debtor-in-possession loans as well as exit financing should Colt go ahead with a prepackaged chapter 11 case, the company said yesterday. Colt also amended terms of its bond exchange offer and will consider commencing the bankruptcy plan if conditions aren’t met. The West Hartford, Conn.-based weapons maker has been asking creditors since April to choose between a debt-for-debt exchange that Standard & Poor’s called “deeply distressed” or bankruptcy. Colt didn’t pay the $10.9 million due May 15 to holders of its $249.4 million of 8.75 percent unsecured notes due November 2017, S&P said last month in a report.

Energy Future Wins Bid to Keep Control of Bankruptcy

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A U.S. bankruptcy judge yesterday granted Energy Future Holdings Corp. more time to round up support for its chapter 11 plan, as creditors and potential bidders circle its valuable transmissions unit, Oncor, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi granted Energy Future's request to ward off the threat of competing chapter 11 plans until Oct. 29, the maximum time allowed by law. The decision means all offers for Oncor must go through Energy Future. Making the most of Oncor is Energy Future's chief hope to resolve the $42 billion debt load that pushed it into bankruptcy more than a year ago.

NewSat Restructuring Bid Continues in Spite of Contract Loss

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Turnaround efforts continue for Australia's NewSat Ltd., according to Ken Coleman, the lawyer representing insolvency officials trying to hold the company together after it was forced to terminate a contract with Lockheed Martin Corp., Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Lenders pushed NewSat into court-supervised insolvency proceedings in Australia earlier this year after it defaulted on loans. Cost overruns on the Jabiru-1 satellite project and management issues were also cited as the reasons for NewSat's financial problems. Administrators put in charge of NewSat sought U.S. court aid to save the construction contract for the Jabiru-1. However, the money didn't come through in time, and last week, NewSat surrendered its rights under the contract with Lockheed Martin. The Australian insolvency proceeding will be the main forum of action for NewSat's turnaround bid, the U.S. court said Friday, in a formal recognition order signed by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein. The recognition order was uncontested, and it was the main goal of NewSat's chapter 15 bankruptcy filing, which followed shortly after the Australian insolvency action commenced. Read more. (Subscription required.)

For more further analysis of chapter 15 proceedings, be sure to pick up a copy of ABI’s Chapter 15 for Foreign Debtors

Caesars’ Latest Court Loss Adds Pressure to Meet With Creditors

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Caesars Entertainment Corp. may come under renewed pressure to make peace with creditors after losing a courtroom skirmish to bondholders seeking to collect a $750 million debt owed by the company’s bankrupt operating unit, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. The ruling on Thursday by U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin is the latest blow to the casino giant’s efforts to shield itself from responsibility for the debts of Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. That unit filed for creditor protection in January. The trustee for a group of the operating unit’s bondholders alleged that the parent improperly abandoned guarantees to honor the unit’s obligations, according to court documents. In a victory for the bondholders, Scheindlin said that the trustee can ask her to rule on parts of the case without first holding a trial or having the parties exchange more documents. The same judge refused to dismiss a similar claim in January.

Langermann's Files for Bankruptcy After Baltimore Riots Put Its Finances over the Edge

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Langermann’s of Baltimore has filed for bankruptcy after the recent unrest in city knocked the restaurant’s finances too far out of balance, the Baltimore Business Journal reported yesterday. The restaurant filed for chapter 11 protection on May 20. The restaurant is open and the owner says he has no plans to close it. Dave McGill, a partner in Langermann’s, said the restaurant had struggled with cash flow problems, but the protests, riots and curfew following the death of Freddie Gray exacerbated those issues. The restaurant owes more than $1 million total to its 20 largest creditors, according to court documents.

Indiana Toll Road Exits Bankruptcy Protection

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A toll road that runs across northern Indiana exited bankruptcy protection and is now be operated by Australia's IFM Investors, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. IFM Investors paid $5.725 billion to operate the 157-mile road between the Ohio Turnpike and Chicago Skyway for the next 66 years. The deal closed on Wednesday, according to a filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago. The 59-year-old toll road filed for bankruptcy last September after struggling for years with a heavy debt load and lower-than-expected traffic. A bankruptcy judge in October approved the chapter 11 plan ITR Concession Co., the operator of the road.

50 Cent's Boxing Promotions Company Files for Bankruptcy

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50 Cent's boxing promotion company SMS Promotions has filed for bankruptcy, Billboard reported yesterday. SMS Promotions will "continue the operation of its business" and take advantage of the filing to "reorganize in an effort to protect its investment in worldwide boxing,“ according to the company. 50 Cent launched SMS Promotions at the end of 2012, shortly after he and boxer Floyd Mayweather parted ways from their company, The Money Team. SMS Promotions signed four fighters — Yuriorkis Gamboa, Andrew Dirrell, Billy Dib and Celestino Caballero.

New Revel Owner Says Casino Won't Reopen This Summer

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The casino at Atlantic City, N.J.'s former Revel resort won't reopen this summer, the property's new owner said yesterday, and it's doubtful whether any of the non-gambling attractions can be reopened by Labor Day, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Glenn Straub made his comments following a federal court hearing yesterday at which he and utility company ACR Energy agreed to continue temporary electrical service there, even as he works toward getting an alternate power supplier at the site. Stuart Brown, ACR 's attorney, said the utility has millions of dollars' worth of equipment inside Revel and fears it could be damaged if Straub hooks an alternate source to it. He also said that without air conditioning, electrical equipment inside Revel is operating at higher than normal temperatures, increasing the risk it could be damaged.

Court Confirms EveryWare Global, Inc.'s Restructuring Plan

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EveryWare Global, Inc. announced on Friday that a bankruptcy court confirmed the company's financial restructuring plan, according to a press release. The plan, as supplemented, provides for the cancellation of the company's existing common stock. The company's existing common stockholders and holders of in-the-money warrants (other than the company's pre-petition term loan lenders and their affiliates and certain stockholders affiliated with the company) will receive cash equal to $0.06 per existing share of common stock. The plan provides that the EveryWare's pre-petition term loan lenders will receive approximately 96.3 percent of the reorganized company's common stock in exchange for their term loans.