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A U.S. judge dismissed the bulk of two lawsuits by bankrupt wireless venture LightSquared and equity owner Harbinger Capital Partners accusing Deere & Co and other GPS firms of misleading them about interference concerns and hastening the company's insolvency, Reuters reported yesterday. In an opinion rendered yesterday in Manhattan federal court, U.S. District Judge Richard Berman threw out Harbinger's lawsuit, and nixed nine of 11 claims asserted by LightSquared, serving a blow to its hope for hefty damages that could help salvage its business. LightSquared has been in bankruptcy since 2012, when the Federal Communications Commission revoked its license to build a planned wireless network over fears it could interfere with GPS systems. Harbinger, the hedge fund run by Phil Falcone, would have to give up much of its equity and all of its operational control of LightSquared under a restructuring plan being voted on by creditors. The lawsuits alleged that Deere, Garmin International, Trimble Navigation Ltd., and a GPS industry group led LightSquared to believe the planned network would not pose an interference risk. It wasn't until LightSquared had pumped $4 billion into the project, the plaintiffs argued, that the GPS industry voiced their concerns. Judge Berman dismissed many claims from both plaintiffs, including breach of contract and civil conspiracy, leaving alive only LightSquared's claims for negligent misrepresentation and constructive fraud.

Electronics retailer RadioShack Corp. filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection yesterday and said that it had a deal in place to sell as many as 2,400 stores to an affiliate of hedge fund Standard General, its lender and largest shareholder, Reuters reported today. Wireless company Sprint Corp. would operate as many as 1,750 of those stores under an agreement with Standard General, Sprint said separately. RadioShack's bankruptcy, which has been expected for months, follows 11 consecutive unprofitable quarters as the company has failed to transform itself into a destination for mobile phone buyers. But its sale agreement with Standard General could spare it the fate most retailers suffer in chapter 11: liquidation. RadioShack said in a statement that the Standard General affiliate, called General Wireless, would acquire between 1,500 and 2,400 of its 4,100 stores. Sprint would occupy about one-third of each RadioShack store, selling "mobile devices across Sprint’s brand portfolio as well as RadioShack products, services and accessories," Sprint said. Other potential buyers will also have the opportunity to bid on RadioShack assets, pending court approval.

Exide Technologies Inc. won court approval yesterday to start the process of polling creditors on the Chapter 11 plan the battery maker hopes will see it out of bankruptcy by the end of March, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey said that he would sign off on voting materials at a hearing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. Exide has backing for its reorganization from holders of about 35 of its senior bonds.

The newly formed Wet Seal Inc. creditors’ committee negotiated an increase in the clothing chain’s sale price and changes in financing for the company’s bankruptcy reorganization, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Wet Seal, a mall-based retailer catering to women 13 to 24, worked out a deal before its Jan. 15 bankruptcy filing that gives lender B. Riley Financial Inc. 80 percent of the stock in exchange for a $20 million investment. The remaining 20 percent was earmarked for unsecured creditors. The committee, formed Jan. 30, persuaded Riley, the parent of liquidator Great American Group LLC, to raise the purchase price to $25 million.

Caesars Entertainment Corp. named former Hertz Global Holdings Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Frissora as its new CEO to succeed Gary Loveman, three weeks after the casino company put its biggest unit in bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Frissora, who left the car-rental agency in September, will join the company immediately as CEO-designate, become a member of the board and take over as CEO on July 1. Loveman will end his term as CEO on June 30 and remain chairman. Loveman said it was his decision to step down. He is credited with expanding the company’s Total Rewards loyalty program, now widely copied in the industry, and establishing Caesars’ online gaming business. Loveman failed to gain access for Caesars in Macau, now the world’s biggest gambling market, and oversaw the $30.7 billion buyout of the company in 2008, as the industry entered its worst slump in history.

In addressing the Office of the U.S. Trustee’s new attorney fee guidelines, the ABI Chapter 11 Reform Commission’s report recently proposed constructive changes regarding the retention and compensation of professionals, according to a commentary yesterday by Ralph Tuliano on the Wall Street Journal’s Bankruptcy Beat Blog. These recommendations are, in part, designed to incentivize professionals to provide services in a cost-effective manner, according to Tuliano. Additionally, the Commission suggested the consideration of the value, relevance and viability of alternative fee arrangements, fixed fee arrangements and task-based fees in the compensation of professionals. http://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-BANKB-20595

To read the Final Report of the ABI Chapter 11 Reform Commission, please visit http://commission.abi.org.

For additional perspectives on professional fees, be sure to visit the latest series on the Wall Street Journal’s Bankruptcy Beat blog: http://blogs.wsj.com/bankruptcy/category/the-examiners/

The federal judge who ruled that Caribbean resort Scrub Island can leave bankruptcy protection also turned down a request from the resort's lender, FirstBank Puerto Rico, that would have shut the 53-room resort down while another judge reviews the case, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Williamson made it clear that the resort, which opened in 2010, could exit bankruptcy even though bank officials are still challenging the resort's repayment plan with an appeal. That plan has given the resort access to part of $18 million which has been promised by some of the resort's owners and a lender.

Altegrity Inc. expects to file for chapter 11 protection after reaching the terms of a restructuring agreement with bondholders owed $1.3 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The company, which gained attention after vetting former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, said it finalized an agreement with holders of more than 70 percent of its senior bonds and approximately 95 percent of its junior bonds. The restructuring will put junior note holders in control of the Falls Church, Va.-based company through a debt-for-equity swap, Altegrity said. Some of those note holders, including funds managed by Third Avenue Management, Litespeed Management LLC and Mudrick Capital Management LP, have also agreed to help fund Altegrity’s operations during the restructuring, the company said. Altegrity’s senior bonds, meanwhile, will be amended as part of the restructuring and stay in place.

Creditors of Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. are gathering in Chicago to jockey for spots on a court-sponsored panel that will determine whether the bankrupt casino company must contend with a loyal opposition or its most intractable foes as it tries to cut billions of dollars in debt, Bloomberg News reported today. In cases of this size, the U.S. Trustee’s Office appoints an official committee to look out for the interests of unsecured creditors including suppliers, pensioners and low-ranking bondholders. That process is scheduled to begin Wednesday. Caesars’ main operating unit filed for bankruptcy protection Jan. 15 in Chicago, weighed down by debt taken on when Apollo Global Management and TPG Capital took the company private in 2008 for $30.7 billion.

New Jersey's shuttered Revel Casino yesterday asked a federal judge to lift a stay on its pending sale to a Florida investor, arguing in a filing that creditors will be harmed if the deal does not go through soon, Reuters reported yesterday. IDEA Boardwalk LLC, which operated a bar and a nightclub at Revel — one of four Atlantic City casinos that closed down last year — has sued to block the sale, saying that it will lose $16 million in investments under the deal. On Friday, U.S. Circuit Court Judge Thomas Ambro ordered the sale delayed while he studies legal challenges. Revel Casino said in its filing yesterday that the deal must close by Feb. 9 or it could collapse. That would be "catastrophic," the filing said, because it would destroy $100 million of creditor value, based on the sale price plus additional costs to liquidate assets.