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The Williamsburg Hotel in Brooklyn filed for bankruptcy as the effects from the pandemic continue to roll through the hospitality industry, Bloomberg News reported. 96 Wythe Acquisition LLC, the entity that owns the hotel backed by Heritage Equity Partners, listed assets and liabilities of $50 million to $100 million in its chapter 11 petition filed in White Plains, New York. The boutique hotel is located in an area of Brooklyn which surged in popularity and rapidly gentrified over the last decade, offering views of Manhattan and some of the best restaurants and shopping in the borough. Benefit Street Partners, the credit firm owned by Franklin Templeton, is one of its largest creditors with a $68 million disputed claim, according to bankruptcy papers. The Williamsburg Hotel is the latest Heritage property to restructure, with 232 Seigel Acquisition LLC, a hotel development in Bushwick, seeking bankruptcy last year. Heritage Equity Partners, led by Toby Moskovits, owns a mix of residential and office projects in Brooklyn.

Puerto Rico moved closer to resolving the largest municipal-debt default in U.S. history after creditors owed roughly $11.7 billion backed a settlement framework, the most Wall Street support yet amassed for a restructuring of the territory’s core public debts, the Wall Street Journal reported. The proposed settlement released today would reduce roughly $18.8 billion in general obligation debt to roughly $7.4 billion, lowering interest payments to bondholders to levels that Puerto Rico’s financial supervisors believes it can support after years of population loss and economic decline. Some bonds covered by the deal have gained value in recent months, buoyed by fixed-income investors’ appetite for high-yielding municipal debt and expectations that Puerto Rico’s court-supervised bankruptcy is nearing its end. The agreement marks the culmination of months of private talks between finance officials and creditors to assess the long-term damage to Puerto Rico’s economy stemming from Covid-19. Investment firms that participate would exchange their claims for a mix of cash, restructured bonds and tradable securities known as contingent value instruments that only pay out if sales-tax collections exceed certain projections. A sustained rally in high-yield municipal bonds, including Puerto Rico’s, helped to ease the deal, according to bondholders and advisers involved in negotiations. Yield-hungry investors have been drawn to risky municipal bonds in part due to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s commitment to ultralow rates. Also fueling the rally are expectations that federal support for Puerto Rico will increase with the White House and both houses of Congress under Democratic control, according to analysts and investors.

Steak ’n Shake Inc. sued lender Fortress Investment Group LLC after the burger chain paid off debt coming due to avoid bankruptcy, accusing Fortress of misusing confidential information to mount a takeover bid, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The Indiana-based milkshake-and-burger chain, backed by entrepreneur Sardar Biglari, said that Fortress obtained sensitive information through negotiations for a potential real estate deal with Steak ’n Shake, then used that knowledge to build an $89 million position in the company’s loans. After acquiring the loans, Fortress made clear it “would not accept a negotiated repayment” and said it “would either force the company to repay the loans in full or file for bankruptcy,” according to the complaint. Steak ’n Shake paid off the loans in full on Friday, spending nearly $103 million to retire the debts and avoid a bankruptcy filing, the company said. Steak ’n Shake’s lawsuit, filed Friday in Marion County Superior Court in Indiana, seeks to recoup alleged losses from Fortress’s actions. Fortress didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s bankruptcy watchdog is opposing a request to add more trade creditors to a committee in the National Rifle Association’s chapter 11 case, saying the organization has said it expects to pay its creditors in full, Reuters reported. U.S. Trustee William Neary said in an objection filed on Sunday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas that the unsecured creditors’ committee it appointed earlier in the NRA’s chapter 11 case adequately represents all types of unsecured creditors. Neary urged U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Harlin Hale to reject the motion from creditor Membership Marketing Partners LLC, which was filed last week.

The owner of vegan restaurant chain By Chloe has named its bankruptcy lenders as the lead bidders to acquire its assets out of chapter 11, with hopes to get the proposed sale approved by next week, the WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The chain’s bankrupt parent BC Hospitality Group Inc., designated a group of investors as the stalking horse bidders, according to records filed on Saturday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., setting the minimum price for other potential bidders to beat. Under the agreement, the stalking horse bidders would acquire 100% of the equity interests of the company in exchange for a credit bid, equal to the $3.25 million in bankruptcy financing they provided, according to court papers. The investor group includes Qoot International UK Ltd., along with equity investor Kitchen Fund LP, private-equity firms Lion Capital LLP, investment firm Bain Capital LP, and venture-capital firm Simple Capital Management LLC.

The U.S. affiliate of a large international airline filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy on Feb. 12, the South Florida Business Journal reported. Fort Lauderdale-based Norwegian Air Resources US Inc. filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida, according to court filings. The filing is part of a larger reorganization strategy from parent company Norwegian Air Shuttle, an international airline that connected Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to international destinations including Amsterdam; Madrid; Oslo, Norway; Stockholm; Barcelona, Spain; and Paris. International travel, especially to Europe, has been close to nonexistent because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many countries have placed regulations on travel to and from the U.S. The Norwegian Air subsidiary had $921,000 in total assets and $5.3 million in total liabilities, according to court documents. In addition to the bankruptcy filing, Norwegian Air Resources US filed a Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice with the state Feb. 12. The company said it permanently laid off 152 workers at FLL, effective Feb. 11.

Navient Solutions, the student loan servicing arm of Navient Corp, is asking a New York bankruptcy judge to throw out an involuntary chapter 11 petition brought by three student loan borrowers, saying the case is frivolous, Reuters reported. Navient, represented by Kirkland & Ellis, filed its motion to dismiss the case on Wednesday, a week after the three borrowers filed their petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The borrowers, represented by Smith Law Group, say they are owed a combined $45,683.64 in "overpayments" they say Navient illegally collected. "Nothing about the filing is based on reality, facts, or evidence," Navient said in the filing. Austin Smith, representing the borrowers, rejected Navient's characterization of the petition. A hearing on the motion to dismiss is set for Feb. 25 before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn. Navient said in Wednesday's filing that the borrowers are would-be class members in pending litigation surrounding student loan debts in other courts and that their lawyer, Smith, is using the involuntary petition as an attempt to gain leverage. The company called the involuntary filing "the latest salvo in Counsel's long-running, highly public crusade against Navient and the broader student loan servicing industry." The borrowers say Navient is insolvent, citing $87.4 billion in assets and $85 billion in liabilities, plus $4 billion the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is seeking in damages in a 2017 lawsuit accusing the company of interest rate manipulations. They also note in the petition that the federal government says Navient owes it $22 million in overcharges over the course of a decade. But Navient says that the debts the petition references are contingent and disputed. In its motion to dismiss, the company touted its financials, saying that by the end of 2020 it had a cash balance of $1.2 billion and had eliminated $1.1 billion in senior unsecured debt.

The Delaware judge presiding over the Weinstein Co. bankruptcy has rejected a request by four women who have accused disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct to put her approval of the company’s bankruptcy plan on hold, the Associated Press reported. The judge issued a one-page order on Wednesday denying the request for an emergency stay while the women challenge approval of the plan in federal district court in Delaware. Attorneys for the four women responded on Friday by asking the district court to put the plan confirmation on hold while it considers their appeal. According to a bankruptcy court filing, the plan has been “substantially consummated,” with an effective date of Thursday. The plan is being challenged by producer Alexandra Canosa and actresses Wedil David and Dominique Huett, who have accused Weinstein of sexual assault, and a former Weinstein Co. employee who claims she was subjected to a hostile work environment. Attorneys for the objectors say the plan includes overly broad releases from liability for third parties such as insurance companies and former Weinstein Co. officers and directors. They also argue that it contains a provision that unfairly prevents non-consenting sexual misconduct claimants from pursuing their claims. The bankruptcy plan provides about $35 million for creditors. That’s about $11.5 million less than under a previous plan, which was scrapped after a federal judge in New York refused to approve a proposed $19 million settlement between Weinstein and some of his accusers. The settlement in that purported class-action lawsuit was a key component of the initial bankruptcy plan.

The developer of an unfinished luxury hotel that sought to capitalize on the popularity of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is fighting in bankruptcy with a lender that has said the project was grossly mismanaged, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Glenroy Coachella LLC, the company behind the half-built hotel, said in court papers Friday that it filed an emergency bankruptcy to prevent lender Calmwater Asset Management LLC from moving forward with a foreclosure sale of the project’s land in Coachella, Calif. Monday’s chapter 11 filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles marked the latest twist in litigation embroiling the project, pitched as “an upscale and modern oasis in the heart of the Coachella valley.” Operating under the Hotel Indigo banner, the finished hotel would include a 10,000 square-foot pool, retail stores, spa and other luxury amenities. An investment fund managed by Calmwater has accused Stuart Rubin, a real-estate investor and manager of Glenroy Coachella, of using a false budget to obtain a $24.4 million construction loan. Calmwater has accused Mr. Rubin of underreporting the true cost of building the hotel by about $20 million. Rubin and lawyers for Glenroy Coachella and Calmwater didn’t immediately return messages Friday seeking comment. Rubin has disputed Calmwater’s allegations. Project investor Gary Stiffelman has also accused Mr. Rubin of mismanaging the project, saying he diverted project funds for his personal use, including to cover the cost of a Bentley lease, according to court papers.

Solstice Marketing Concepts has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company, which described itself as the second-largest retailer of sunglasses in the U.S., said it plans to reorganize and emerge from bankruptcy as a going concern, ChainStorage.com reported. Solstice operates 66 stores along with an e-commerce site. The retailer reported that its retail store business has been significantly impacted by COVID-19. As a result of mandatory store closures in key markets and stay-at-home orders throughout the country, Solstice’s retail sales during the pandemic have been more than 50% lower than 2019 with limited relief to compensate for stores being closed and shoppers afraid or unable to shop. Solstice is seeking financing upon bankruptcy court approval to fund ongoing operations during the restructuring process. The company has retained Morgan, Lewis & Bockius L.L.P. as its legal counsel, RCS Real Estate Advisors to advise on all store leases, and KCP Advisory Group LLC’s Jacen Dinoff as chief restructuring officer.