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The bankruptcy case for landmark Washington, D.C., watering hole Hawk ‘n’ Dove ended abruptly on Wednesday with a settlement between the bar’s owners and a group led by D.C. restaurateur Xavier Cervera, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. The judge overseeing the bankruptcy has dismissed the case at the owners’ request. Details about the settlement between Cervera, who sold Hawk ‘n’ Dove and eight other restaurants in 2012, and the investors who bought them weren’t disclosed. Hawk ‘n’ Dove and eight other restaurants filed for bankruptcy nearly a year ago — March 28, 2014 — as their owners were facing a deadline to make a payment Xavier Cervera and his partners. As part of the 2012 sale, Cervera and the other sellers agreed to take $4.5 million upfront and another roughly $9.7 million in smaller payments made over time, according to documents filed bankruptcy court.

Cache, a women’s dress and formal wear retailer, is about to launch going-out-of-business sales at its more than 150 stores nationwide, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The latest in an increasingly long line of troubled women’s retailers to seek chapter 11 protection, Cache started its run through bankruptcy hoping to find a buyer willing to keep some stores alive. That aspiration ultimately failed, though a 25-hour auction did drive up the price of the company’s remaining assets. An attorney for Cache told a judge on Tuesday that the marathon auction, which lasted all day Monday and through the night, is expected to bring in $18 million for creditors. The $16.4 million that Cache still owes Salus Capital Partners will be completely repaid, leaving some money for lower-ranked creditors like vendors and landlords.

The judge overseeing RadioShack Corp's chapter 11 bankruptcy case yesterday approved a revised $1.5 million bonus plan for eight top executives at the electronics retailer, over the objection of the U.S. Trustee in the case, Reuters reported yesterday. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Shannon said that while he shared some of the trustee's concerns over the key executive incentive plan, he was convinced the executives would be "up to their elbows" with the sale of 2,000 RadioShack stores. Shannon also said he was impressed the plan's payout had been reduced through negotiations. Acting U.S. Trustee Andrew Vara on Saturday filed an objection to the plan, initially set at $2 million. Vara said it would reward the executives for staying put at RadioShack after reaching the stalking-horse bid for the 2,000 stores. The bid was reached before RadioShack filed for bankruptcy in February. RadioShack said that its executives worked to increase the value of the bid by $30 million during negotiations. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/04/radioshack-bankruptcy-bonusplan-idUSL1N0W62N620150304

In related news, RadioShack Corp.'s creditors ironed out the final details of a $285 million bankruptcy loan at a court hearing yesterday amid indications that suppliers, landlords and other unsecured creditors will sustain significant damage in the retailer's chapter 11 proceeding, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. The Fort Worth, Texas, company filed for bankruptcy on Feb. 5 after a long losing streak. It is selling off and shutting down about half its 4,000-store chain, but hopes to keep the rest in operation, in the hands of new owners. (Subscription required.) http://bankruptcynews.dowjones.com/Article?an=DJFDBR0120150304eb34p25nb&cid=32135009&ctype=ts

Earth Class Mail Corp., an Oregon-based startup that converts paper mail into electronic correspondences, has filed for chapter 11 protection with a deal to sell its business for $5 million, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Earth Class has been operating under a contractual agreement preventing bondholders from foreclosing on the company's assets. But with that deal slated to end in the next six months, Earth Class received an offer from Xenon Resources LLC — an investment firm that is also a customer of Earth Class — for $5 million.

Offshore oil and gas contractor Cal Dive International Inc. said that the company and its U.S. subsidiaries filed for voluntary bankruptcy protection, Reuters reported yesterday. Cal Dive's foreign units have not sought bankruptcy protection and will continue to operate outside of any reorganization proceedings, the company said yesterday. Cal Dive has been hurt by the slump in crude prices as oil and gas producers slash their capital spending budgets. U.S. crude prices have more than halved since June. "With our current capital structure, we are no longer able to financially withstand the industry downturn," Chief Executive Quinn Hebert said. Cal Dive said it would sell non-core assets and reorganize or sell as a going concern its core sub-sea contracting business. The Houston-based company said that it received a commitment for up to $120 million in debtor-in-possession financing from its current first-lien lenders led by Bank of America. Read more.

For further analysis of oil and gas insolvencies, be sure to pick up a copy of ABI’s When Gushers Go Dry: The Essentials of Oil & Gas Bankruptcy. 

The operating unit of casino company Caesars Entertainment Corp. unveiled its plan to cut $10 billion of debt and to exit Chapter 11 in a bankruptcy court filing on Monday, Reuters reported yesterday. The plan formalized a proposal negotiated with senior creditors prior to the casino operator's January bankruptcy filing. It must be approved by Bankruptcy Judge Benjamin Goldgar in Chicago and by creditors, a process that can easily take a year or more. Under the proposed plan, the bankrupt unit would be split into an operating company that runs 38 casinos in 14 states and a property company that owns the real estate.

Total U.S. bankruptcy filings decreased 13 percent in February from the same period last year, according to data provided by Epiq Systems, Inc. Bankruptcy filings totaled 65,002 in February 2015, down from the February 2014 total of 72,267. Consumer filings declined 10 percent in February 2015 to 62,740 from the February 2014 consumer filing total of 69,403. In addition, total commercial filings in February 2015 decreased to 2,262, representing a 21 percent decline from the 2,864 business filings recorded in February 2014. Total commercial chapter 11 filings were down 25 percent as February 2015’s commercial chapter 11 filings decreased to 363 from February 2014’s 484 filings.

Lifestyle Lift, a nationwide chain of cosmetic surgery centers, abruptly shut down the majority of its business yesterday and said that it is considering filing for bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The company, founded in 2001 by Dr. David Kent, had 40 surgery centers nationwide offering what it billed as a less-invasive face-lift procedure that required only local anesthesia and a shorter recovery time. Lifestyle Lift has run into trouble over the years with state attorneys general offices who have questioned the company’s advertising practices. In 2009, then-New York State Attorney Andrew Cuomo announced that Lifestyle Lift had agreed to pay $300,000 in penalties to settle claims that its employees published fake, positive consumer reviews on the Internet.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed more than six years ago, but the failed investment bank is still paying millions in bonuses to the team winding down its business, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Lehman, which officially emerged from chapter 11 nearly three years ago, paid out $44 million last year in bonuses to employees, according to a monthly operating report filed Friday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. The bank paid out about $50 million in bonuses in 2013. Since exiting bankruptcy protection, the investment bank has remained in business, managing a large pool of assets and selling when it finds a good deal, rather than in a panic. This has resulted in greater-than-expected recovery for Lehman’s creditors. The bank’s estate has been selling off its real estate and its private-equity stakes as well as winding down its derivatives’ positions to pay back its creditors. Lehman, in its most recent estimate, said it expects to bring in $90.6 billion from asset sales to pay back creditors.

Creditors have come to terms with RadioShack Corp. over bonuses top-ranking insiders stand to earn in the weeks ahead, as the retailer attempts to save a slice of its battered collection of stores, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Jay Indyke, lawyer for the official committee representing suppliers, landlords and others owed upwards of $500 million, said yesterday that the panel has negotiated a resolution with the company over the pay-enhancement request. A bankruptcy judge must sign off on the bonus program, which faces opposition from federal bankruptcy watchdogs. On Saturday, U.S. Trustee Andrew Vara filed papers saying that RadioShack is paying too much for too little in the way of performance from its leaders.