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A Canadian renewable energy firm yesterday sued Citigroup Inc. for rejecting force majeure declarations during a February winter storm and billing it over $100 million for replacement power, according to lawsuits filed in a Texas state court, Reuters reported. Shannon Wind and Flat Top Wind, subsidiaries of Innergex Renewable Energy Inc., operate North Texas wind farms that halted their wind turbines during an arctic deep freeze. Both had agreements to physically deliver power to Citi Energy, a unit of Citigroup Inc., at fixed prices. Unusually frigid temperatures knocked out nearly half of the state’s power plants in mid-February, leaving 4.5 million people without heat or light for days and bankrupting at least three companies due to high wholesale power prices. The wind firms, partly owned by Starwood Energy Group Global and a fund run by BlackRock Inc, respectively, declared force majeure after their turbines froze. But, their lawsuits in a Texas court claimed Citi ignored the declarations and invoiced them for electricity it bought at inflated prices.

Citing multiple pressures on liquidity, Delaware's largest outpatient drug and mental health provider filed for chapter 11 protection on April 19, Becker's Hospital Review reported. The embattled Connections Community Support Programs, based in Wilmington, is aiming to induce a bankruptcy-shielded sale of the company, according to court documents. The bankruptcy filing comes days after a third lawsuit was filed against the company by Delaware and federal agencies alleging improper billing practices and violations of the Controlled Substance Act, according to Law 360. The False Claims Act cases are seeking triple damages, according to the report. Connections Community Support Programs has appointed EisnerAmper's Robert Katz as chief restructuring officer to help it through the bankruptcy process and potential sale. In the court documents, Connections Community Support Programs said it has 10,000 to 25,000 creditors and lists assets of $50 million to $100 million and debts of $50 million to $100 million.

Opioid maker Mallinckrodt Plc filed a plan of reorganization Tuesday that has the support of opioid litigation claimants, holders of 84% in principal amount of unsecured notes and an undisclosed portion of term loan holders, according to court filings, Bloomberg News reported. The plan provides for the company’s revolving credit facility to be paid in full in cash. First- and second-lien term lenders would either be repaid in cash or with new takeback term loans plus cash for accrued interest and other payments, depending on the allowance of each group’s make-whole claims at the time of confirmation. Unsecured noteholders would receive a pro rata share of the takeback second-lien notes and equity shares in the reorganized company. The disclosure statement stipulates that the ad hoc group of unsecured noteholders hasn’t yet approved the language allocating takeback loans to the first- and second-lien holders. Opioid litigation claims would be channeled into a trust set aside for their settlement and payment. The company has previously said it would total $1.6 billion in structured payments. Mallinckrodt was the third major opioid maker to go under after being swamped by lawsuits alleging it profited by fueling the U.S. opioid epidemic.

Members of the Sackler family who own bankrupt OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma LP are worth approximately $11 billion, documents released yesterday by a congressional committee show, the Wall Street Journal reported. Members of the Sackler family have agreed to pay $4.28 billion over the next decade as part of a proposal for Purdue to exit bankruptcy and settle thousands of lawsuits filed by states, local governments and individuals blaming the company and its owners for helping fuel the nation’s opioid crisis. Summaries of the family wealth, turned over to Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), also were seen by Purdue’s creditors during settlement talks, according to representatives for the two branches of the company’s family owners. A third branch of the family is no longer involved in Purdue Pharma and wasn’t included in Tuesday’s release by Rep. Maloney, who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. The documents show the Sacklers’ wealth includes more than $950 million in cash, more than $1 billion in real estate, another $1 billion in private-equity investments and $250 million in art, jewelry and other collectibles. The family owns stakes worth more than $1 billion in international drug companies, which are expected to be sold to help pay back creditors. The documents show much of the family’s wealth is held in dozens of trusts. A spokesman for the descendants of the late Mortimer Sackler said no party in the bankruptcy has challenged the accuracy or completeness of the wealth disclosure and that “we hope the focus will now be on concluding a resolution that will deliver timely resources to individuals, families and communities in need.”

Three current and former National Rifle Association board members testified yesterday that in favor of the appointment of an independent examiner to investigate the gun rights organization’s management, but said that efforts to dismiss its chapter 11 bankruptcy is a step too far, Reuters reported. The statements came during the seventh day of trial on motions from New York Attorney General Letitia James and the NRA’s former ad agency, Ackerman McQueen, that aim to have the case thrown out. They have argued that the bankruptcy was not filed for legitimate purposes under bankruptcy law.

The U.S. Supreme Court has closed the door on an attempt by creditors of the former Tribune Co. to claw back billions of dollars in shareholder profits that flowed from its 2007 leveraged buyout, about a year before the publisher filed for bankruptcy, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The justices declined to hear an appeal brought by some Tribune bondholders and retirees, who for more than a decade have been pushing for the right to sue over the buyout. Monday’s decision leaves in place earlier rulings by federal district and appeals courts that rights to pursue legal action over the Tribune buyout under state law were extinguished through the company’s 2008 bankruptcy. Efforts by Tribune creditors to sue billionaire investor Sam Zell and others behind the buyout have been closely followed by bankruptcy professionals and academics. Among those who asked the Supreme Court to take up the appeal was a group of law professors, as well as bankruptcy trustees who have clawed back billions of dollars on behalf of victims of Bernie Madoff and creditors of MF Global Holdings Ltd., Toys “R” Us and Sears Holdings Corp. The law professors broadly argued that lower-court rulings in favor of Tribune shareholders had effectively blessed risky transactions that enrich corporate insiders while loading companies with debt, threatening everyone else the business owes, including retirees dependent on pensions. The Biden administration also weighed in on the appeal. Acting Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said in March that although the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was wrong when it ruled against Tribune creditors’ state law claims, there isn’t a pressing need for further review of the issue by the Supreme Court at this time.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s bankruptcy watchdog has opposed a request from certain National Rifle Association members seeking the appointment of an official committee to represent their interests in the gun rights organization’s chapter 11 case, saying they do not have the same status as equity holders under bankruptcy law, Reuters reported. In court papers filed on Sunday, the U.S. Trustee’s office urged U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Harlin Hale in Dallas to reject a motion from four NRA members to create the committee. The judge will consider the matter during a hearing on Wednesday, in the midst of a trial over the legitimacy of the NRA’s bankruptcy.

A bankrupt unit of nursing-home operator Consulate Health Care won court approval to put itself up for sale, along with the rights to try to collect on a $258 million whistleblower judgment against its other nonbankrupt corporate affiliates, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. CMC II LLC, a back-office manager for Consulate-run nursing homes, filed for bankruptcy last month along with two affiliated nursing homes, saying they couldn’t pay a $258 million judgment they faced for overbilling government health programs. CMC is now seeking to sell itself out of bankruptcy, and has named a Consulate affiliate as the lead bidder after it offered $3 million. The assets up for sale include CMC’s legal rights to seek compensation from its solvent corporate affiliates over the judgment that bankrupted it. Litigation financiers have expressed interest in purchasing the legal claims, according to testimony by CMC’s top restructuring officer. Lawyers for unsecured creditors, including the whistleblower who won the judgment, Angela Ruckh, are wary of the legal claims ending up in the hands of the lead bidder. In court hearings on Thursday and Friday, they said that putting CMC in the hands of a Consulate affiliate that has not filed for bankruptcy would simply bury the judgment, which could otherwise be asserted against other Consulate units. By Friday, the only concession won by Ms. Ruckh and other unsecured creditors was a two-month delay in the sale deadline, from May to July.