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Hertz Global Holdings Inc. has lined up $1.65 billion in financing to carry itself through bankruptcy, sparking a market rally that more than doubled the rental-car company’s share price, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The shares rose as high as $2.86 cents after the company announced the financing package from Thursday’s closing price of $1.03, reflecting the continued interest in Hertz from risk-hungry traders despite its severe financial strain. By early afternoon, the stock was trading at $2.15. Hertz said that the new financing will give it more financial flexibility as it deals with fallout from the novel coronavirus pandemic and its impact on travel. The company’s shares went on a gravity-defying rally after it filed for protection from creditors in May, even though the chapter 11 filing put the equity at high risk of becoming worthless. Hertz tried to capitalize on the market anomaly by issuing new stock, a seemingly unprecedented move for a bankrupt company to raise inexpensive capital. Hertz suspended the stock sales after the Securities and Exchange Commission raised questions, but not before issuing $29 million in equity. The company then turned to lenders for additional financing, which must be approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del.

A court-appointed receiver plans to sell paintball equipment makers G.I. Sportz Inc. and Tippmann Sports after they defaulted on $29 million of debt, Bloomberg News reported. Quebec-based G.I. Sportz, identified in Canadian documents last year as the largest global manufacturer and distributor of paintball-related products, has “no ability to repay” the $29 million it owes under a credit agreement, according to a sworn statement from the company’s receiver. A judge in Quebec on Thursday handed broad control of the firm’s finances to consulting firm KSV Advisory, bankruptcy court papers show. G.I. Sportz offers a variety of paintball equipment, including ammo, protective gear and apparel, as well as the gas-powered guns used to the play the sport. Tippmann sells some of the sport’s most popular guns, called markers. The company is majority owned by private equity firm Fulcrum Capital Partners. The firm is part of a partnership that in September took over as lenders to G.I. Sportz, replacing Bank of Montreal. The partnership demanded repayment four days after becoming the lenders, court papers show. G.I. Sportz has struggled in recent years, racking up more than $45 million of losses since the end of 2018. The Covid-19 pandemic made matters worse, as social distancing regulations curtailed paintball games, which are often played in teams in relatively small areas. The court-appointed receiver, Fulcrum and an entity called Kore Outdoor Inc. are nearing a deal that would have Kore buy G.I. Sportz’s operations and keep the business alive. Kore would pay with a note “equal to the value” of the assets and take on the outfit’s secured debt, court papers show. G.I. Sportz employs 235 people. The businesses filed for chapter 15 bankruptcy in Delaware on Friday, a move that protects a firm’s U.S. assets while it works out a restructuring in Canada.

A U.S. judge said bondholders have valid claims over Venezuela’s prized oil refiner Citgo Petroleum Corp., dealing a blow to the country’s U.S.-backed opposition leaders and putting the company at heightened risk of a forced takeover, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Bondholders are entitled to seize and sell the controlling stake in Citgo that Venezuela pledged to them as collateral in a 2016 debt deal, U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla in New York ruled Friday. No such sale can occur under current U.S. sanctions on Venezuela, though bondholders have been lobbying the Trump administration for an exemption that would permit them to foreclose on the company. Investors and multinational companies trying to collect debts from Venezuela have long been circling Citgo, viewing it as a promising way to get repaid despite the country’s economic meltdown. As a Houston-based company, Citgo is the only meaningful asset belonging to Venezuela they can reach through the U.S. court system.

As Congress continues to remain deadlocked over a new round of stimulus, studies show that the picture for many small businesses remains bleak, the Washington Business Journal reported. A National Federation of Independent Business survey showed 22 percent of PPP borrowers anticipate layoffs in the next six months, nearly half anticipate needing additional financial support in that time, and 44 percent of owners would apply for a PPP loan for the first or second time if Congress extended the program. New data from Yelp shows that 163,735 businesses on its platform have closed since the pandemic began, of which at least 60 percent are permanent. Bankruptcy reorganizations in September were higher than any September since 2011, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute. The already desperate situation for small businesses is magnified for owners of color, said Sarah Crozier, senior communications manager at small-business group Main Street Alliance. She said that 46 percent of Black, Latinx and Asian American business owners say they can only stay open for fewer than six months, per data from a study commissioned by the national small-business network. Overall, the study found, 75 percent of small-business respondents are finding it difficult to negotiate favorable deals with their landlords, while 70 percent say the same thing about their banks.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) yesterday rejected a coronavirus relief deal that costs more than $1.8 trillion, hours after President Trump indicated he was "absolutely" willing to raise his spending offer, FoxBusinessNews.com reported. Asked whether there can be a compromise between the White House-backed $1.8 trillion proposal and a $2.2 trillion offer put forward by House Democrats earlier this month, McConnell pushed back. “I don’t think so," he said. "That’s where the administration's willing to go. My members think what we laid out, a half a trillion dollars, highly targeted, is the best way to go." "What I’m going to put in the floor is what Senate Republicans, 52 out 53 of us, feel like it’s an appropriate response," he said. "You are correct there were discussions going on between the secretary of the Treasury and the speaker about the higher amount. That’s not what I’m gonna put on the floor.” McConnell's comments came shortly after Trump told FOX Business he was considering upping his offer for a coronavirus relief package above the White House's current $1.8 trillion proposal.

Two new studies have found that after an ambitious expansion of the safety net in the spring saved millions of people from poverty, the aid is now largely exhausted and poverty has returned to levels higher than before the coronavirus crisis, the New York Times reported. The number of poor people has grown by 8 million since May, according to researchers at Columbia University, after falling by 4 million at the pandemic’s start as a result of a $2 trillion emergency package known as the CARES Act. Using a different definition of poverty, researchers from the University of Chicago and Notre Dame found that poverty has grown by 6 million people in the past three months, with circumstances worsening most for Black people and children. The recent rise in poverty has occurred despite an improving job market since May, an indication that the economy had been rebounding too slowly to offset the lost benefits. And now, the economy is showing new signs of deceleration, amid layoffs, a surge in coronavirus cases and deadlocked talks in Washington, D.C., over new stimulus.

A plan to sell bankrupt JCPenney Co.’s retail operations to its two biggest landlords stalled this week, raising the prospect that creditors will carry the burden of millions of dollars in extra costs as the retailer prepares for the crucial holiday season, Bloomberg News reported. Talks between JCPenney’s lenders and the would-be buyers, mall owners Simon Property Group Inc. and Brookfield Property Partners LP, have broken down in recent days. The landlords missed several deal deadlines as communication between the parties lapsed. The two sides will now turn to mediation to help them determine whether they can close the deal, and on what terms. They met to begin that process on Wednesday. An attorney for the company has said that disputes won’t stand in the way of a final agreement. Representatives for Brookfield, Simon, JCPenney and its lender group didn’t comment. The standstill comes ahead of JCPenney’s most crucial quarter, since retailers typically make much of their annual revenue in the period between Thanksgiving and the new year. At stake in the coming weeks is financial responsibility for tens of millions of dollars of orders, including merchandise the company must have in stock for holiday shopping. Creditors say JCPenney’s original sale plan called for the deal to close around October 3, according to a regulatory filing on Wednesday. A further delay in closing the deal threatens to put the holiday purchasing burden onto the group of creditors running JCPenney in its bankruptcy.

Extraction Oil & Gas won a legal victory on Wednesday in its chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, one that may allow it out of midstream contracts with Colorado pipeline companies, the Denver Business Journal reported. The Denver-based oil producer had sought to reject its existing midstream contracts covering the transportation of crude oil, natural gas and liquids, and produced water from Extraction’s wells. The midstream companies argued that Extraction couldn’t reject the contracts. Chief Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware granted summary judgment in Extraction’s favor against Platte River Midstream LLC and DJ South Gathering, both subsidiaries of Denver-based ARB Midstream, and against Grand Mesa Pipelines and Elevation Midstream. The contracts cover the transportation of more than 200 million barrels of crude oil and obligations for Extraction to pay tens of millions of dollars annually. Extraction sought to get out of the midstream agreements to give it more leverage in renegotiating terms as part of Extraction’s bankruptcy restructuring. Extraction Oil & Gas filed for chapter 11 protection June 14 to reorganize and free itself from $1.7 billion in debt it couldn’t pay, either by negotiating a debt-for-equity swap with lenders, or by merging or being acquired by another oil and gas company.

Private-equity-backed YogaWorks Inc. has filed for bankruptcy and plans to permanently close its dozens of studios across the U.S. but keep offering virtual classes, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The California-based yoga studio chain is the latest fitness business to succumb to shutdowns and restrictions on gyms and in-person gatherings related to the coronavirus pandemic. The company said yesterday in a press release that its operations will continue via its livestream and on-demand digital platforms, YogaWorks Live and MyYogaWorks, as well as its teacher training and workshop departments. The digital business has been profitable since it was started in 2013, the company said. YogaWorks was founded in 1987 and was acquired by private-equity firm Great Hill Partners in 2014. YogaWorks said that it has an agreement to sell its brand, digital platform and education business to Serene Investment Management LLC, subject to better offers at a potential bankruptcy auction. Serene has also agreed to provide YogaWorks with a $3.35 million bankruptcy loan to fund its chapter 11 case, court papers say. Other fitness businesses have been hit hard by the pandemic. Gold’s Gym International Inc., 24 Hour Fitness Worldwide Inc. and the owner of New York Sports Clubs have all filed for chapter 11 protection in recent months. The fitness industry has responded to pandemic closures by boosting digital platforms and streaming options to allow patrons to exercise from home. YogaWorks Chief Executive Brian Cooper said the COVID-19 pandemic “created unprecedented challenges for our industry and business,” including studio closures, and social-distancing measures and attendance restrictions in studios that have since reopened.