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3M Co., facing more than 200,000 lawsuits accusing it of harming soldiers with defective combat earplugs, opened a new round of mediation yesterday overseen by the same federal judge the industrial conglomerate has been feuding with since July, Bloomberg News reported. The company blames U.S. District Court Judge M. Casey Rodgers for letting a multibillion-dollar legal problem become so intractable that one of 3M’s units filed bankruptcy in a failed effort to get the suits away from her. Rodgers accuses 3M of trying to undermine the biggest multi-district litigation (MDL) in U.S. history and pledged to investigate the company’s motives. The unusual legal feud will hang over two days of negotiations led by a mediator in Florida who was appointed by Rodgers just seven weeks after she questioned whether 3M made a good faith effort in a previous round of failed mediation. Refusing to negotiate in good faith during a court proceeding can lead to sanctions. Judge Rodgers, based in Pensacola, Fla., and 3M both declined to comment on the conflict. The company reiterated its view that the lawsuits should be resolved by a different federal judge in Indianapolis, where a key 3M unit is based. Rodgers is preparing hundreds of thousands of suits for trials across the U.S. in which 3M would face claims it sold faulty earplugs to soldiers, causing hearing damage. Losses in 10 test trials already have resulted in $300 million in jury awards and tens of millions more in legal fees.

Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network on Thursday, filed a request for sale of its stablecoin holdings, in a bid to generate liquidity to fund its operations, Reuters reported. The New Jersey-based company intends to sell their current and any future stablecoins it may receive, as needed, to fund its chapter 11 cases, according to a court document. The request was filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Southern District of New York and a hearing is scheduled on Oct. 6 to discuss the proposed sale, the document showed. Celsius had filed for bankruptcy in New York in July, after it froze withdrawals, citing "extreme" market conditions. Celsius currently owns 11 different forms of stablecoin, for a total of about $23 million.

A New York real-estate investor said that he has reached an agreement with mortgage and mezzanine lenders that would allow him three more months to pay back more than $200 million before risking losing his properties in bankruptcy, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Robert Gans put a group of eight Manhattan and Queens real estate equity-holding entities into bankruptcy in June to stop the mezzanine lenders’ attempt to foreclose on the properties. As part of the proposed settlement filed on Wednesday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, Gans filed chapter 11 petitions for an additional 10 real estate entities. The parties have agreed that Gans can keep his properties if he can pay back the lenders $200 million and other expenses in cash by Dec. 22. The lenders would take over all the properties in bankruptcy, which also include other lots in Manhattan and Queens, if Gans fails to make the payments by the deadline. The settlement still must be approved by the bankruptcy court.

SAS AB Chief Executive Officer Anko van der Werff said he’s confident the Scandinavian airline will emerge successfully from a chapter 11 restructuring after winning clearance for a $700 million financing package and seeing a rebound in its own performance, Bloomberg News reported. Approval for the Apollo Global Management funding from a US bankruptcy judge is “the biggest and most important news” for SAS and will be “vital” as it seeks to move forward with a new strategic plan, Der Werff said Thursday in an interview in Gothenburg, Sweden. Operations have stabilized since the end of a pilot strike in August, the CEO said, and while the dispute cost “considerable money” and “disappointed a lot of people,” the first two weeks of September have produced a “far better” operational performance at the airline, with passengers rushing back. “Operationally we are stable,” he said, adding that the company’s forecasts still stand, with no sign so far that a cost-of-living squeeze will curb demand. “We are not going to put additional capacity in. But right now we are really content with how the winter is developing.” Stockholm-based SAS expects the chapter 11 process to continue until May or June, during which time the tri-national carrier will have sufficient liquidity, aided by the flow of cash from its own operations, according to the CEO.

A metalworking company listed as part of several Sacramento region construction projects has filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy, suggesting that the company will liquidate, the Sacramento Business Journal reported. AMD Metal Works Inc., with an address in Sacramento County near the Power Inn Road area, filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 9 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of California. According to the filing, AMD Metal Works has assets of about $3.72 million and liabilities of about $1.89 million. However, about $2.49 million of the company's assets are listed as accounts receivable, or money the company hasn't received yet for work performed within the last 90 days. Among the projects listed where the company performed work and is owed money are the 65 East, now known as Wexler on 65th, student housing project in Sacramento; the 47-unit affordable housing project Sunrise Pointe in Citrus Heights; and Aurora, a 162-unit affordable housing project in Gold River. The company also lists work performed on several Bay Area projects of all kinds and elsewhere in California.

Brazos Electric Power Cooperative Inc., the biggest electricity co-op in Texas, won bankruptcy-court approval to poll its creditors on a $1.4 billion compromise over allegedly exorbitant power purchases during the extreme winter storm that hit the state last year, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The proposed settlement would ease the burden on Brazos and its member cooperatives from the storm-related bills that drove it into chapter 11. Brazos has been fighting the nearly $1.9 billion invoice it received from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or Ercot, saying the Texas grid operator overcharged for electricity after winter storm Uri, which knocked out power to millions for days and spiked electricity prices. Power generators including Calpine Corp. and NRG Energy Inc. that sold electricity to Brazos would have two choices under the settlement plan. They could collect from Brazos in full over 30 years or opt for quicker payments by taking on average a discount of nearly 24 cents on the dollar on their invoices. Brazos would make up front payments totaling over $1.15 billion to Ercot, the state’s clearinghouse for buying and selling electricity, to distribute to generators still owed money from bills the co-op incurred during the winter storm. In addition Brazos would make 12 payments annually of up to $13.8 million each and hand over a portion of the $116 million in proceeds from the sale of its generation assets, according to court documents filed on Tuesday. Judge David Jones of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston will take up approval of the chapter 11 plan in November, he said at a court hearing. The judge on Tuesday authorized Brazos to solicit votes from creditors on the restructuring plan, and the plan is expected to become effective by Dec. 30 if approved.

An independent examiner will probe the digital asset holdings of Celsius Network LLC, a further sign of the intense scrutiny the crypto lender is facing in bankruptcy, Bloombergs News reported. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn in a hearing yesterday signed off on a request to appoint an examiner in the case. The move originated with an arm of the Justice Department that oversees bankruptcy court, which has repeatedly called for heightened transparency during the insolvency proceedings. The examiner will, among other things, look into how Celsius stores its crypto and whether various account types are commingled, court papers show. The examiner has not yet been selected. The scope of the examination was pared down following discussions between the US Trustee and lawyers for Celsius creditors. Lawyers for the crypto lender’s official committee of unsecured creditors worried that a broad examination would duplicate work already being done by the committee, wasting time and money, Greg Pesce of White & Case said on behalf of the group in the hearing. The creditor committee is already undertaking a wide-ranging investigation of the company and its officers, including whether Celsius or Chief Executive Officer Alex Mashinsky engaged in any misconduct in the run-up to the bankruptcy. The group has begun engaging with Mashinsky and is receiving information about his withdrawals from the platform, Pesce said.

Revlon Inc. received bankruptcy court approval to pay a total of between $14.5 million and $36 million in potential bonuses to eight insiders, MarketWatch.com reported. The beauty-products business, which sought protection from creditors in June, could make the variable payments over 18 months to keep the top senior executives on board as it reorganizes in chapter 11. The only party objecting to the compensation program was the Justice Department's bankruptcy watchdog, which questioned whether the financial targets were "layups." Judge David Jones ruled at a hearing yesterday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York that the goals are "tall orders" since Revlon must overcome supply-chain problems and must get its products on retail shelves in time for the holiday season. Rising interest rates are another challenge, he said. Judge Jones also said he was also reassured by the fact that Revlon's unsecured creditors committee also supports the incentive program.

Chester, Pa., Receiver Michael T. Doweary is considering bankruptcy as a way to steer the city toward solid financial footing in light of a looming $46.5 million deficit anticipated next year, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Through Pennsylvania Act 47, the receiver has the power to file for bankruptcy and received authorization from the Pennsylvania Secretary of Community and Economic Development in February to proceed with bankruptcy filings. As required by Act 47, Doweary consulted with the Municipal Financial Recovery Advisory Committee on Tuesday regarding taking a step forward in that direction. He has not yet filed for bankruptcy but is engaging in negotiations with relevant groups to avoid such a filing. “What bankruptcy would mean for Chester is that it would provide Chester with the ability to try to reduce its pension to retiree health care … which it has to do to be fiscally solvent,” Vijay Kapoor, Doweary’s chief of staff, said. “The other thing that it would allow Chester to do is the opportunity to negotiate with other creditors so the city would have a fresh start, which it desperately needs.” Chester would continue to provide services to its residents even through bankruptcy, he added, although he said he anticipated that some employees may leave because of the uncertainty around such a situation. In evaluating Chester's general fund from 2013 to 2019, only in 2017 was there a surplus of $7.7 million due to a $12 million cash advance and a $2 million state loan. In the other years, the city's general fund ran a deficit from $2.2 million to $8.6 million.

Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper’s real estate company wants to revoke a bankruptcy settlement it negotiated with the city and county where its abandoned South Carolina practice facility was supposed to be built because it says the governments are making exorbitant and unreasonable demands, the Associated Press reported. GT Real Estate Holdings had offered $21 million to York County. It suggested giving the proceeds from selling part of its site in Rock Hill so the city would get at least $20 million. But the county and city have filed separate lawsuits and court papers. York County said it is entitled to more than $80 million in part to get back money from a special penny sales tax that was supposed to expand a road but Tepper’s company used for the proposed practice facility. Rock Hill sued for $20 million it spent on the project and has asked the bankruptcy case be heard in South Carolina, where most of the people who lost money are located, instead of Delaware, where GT Real Estate Holdings is incorporated.