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While most of the courtroom wrangling is over and PG&E has stepped out of chapter 11, numerous people affected by wildfires the company caused are trying to get paid, according to a San Francisco Chronicle report. The bankruptcy process earmarked an estimated $13.5 billion that will compensate those victims through an independent trust, but the system is far from simple — or fast. PG&E is funding the trust partly through cash and partly through shares the entity can cash out over time. That has led to some inherent uncertainty, as seen when the fund’s trustee told victims in a letter last week that the trust was “more than $1 billion short” of its intended value because of how the stock had fared. But victims could still get everything they’re owed. The trustee, retired appeals court Justice John Trotter, also noted that the trust had “developed a careful ‘sell-down plan’” — in other words, it could wait until the price rises before selling shares. Many fire victims are elderly and an unknown number of them are in ailing health. The longer the process drags on, the greater the odds are that more people may pass away before they can resolve their claim.

Alternative-asset-management firm Benefit Street Partners LLC has sued Il Mulino’s co-owner over access to the luxury Italian restaurant chain’s website and use of liquor licenses, more than a month after the fund manager’s affiliate acquired some of the eatery’s assets out of bankruptcy, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. BSP filed an adversary proceeding Wednesday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan against Gerald Katzoff and his company GFB Restaurant Corp., which operates the legendary Il Mulino restaurant in Greenwich Village. The asset manager sought a temporary restraining order against Mr. Katzoff, preventing him from interfering with liquor licenses and permits for some Il Mulino locations that BSP’s affiliate had acquired. It also sought to stop him from removing those entities from the ilmulino.com website, related email server and social media accounts, according to court papers. During a status conference on Thursday, Judge Martin Glenn ordered a standstill on the intellectual-property-rights dispute, pending another court hearing or a stipulation and order, as litigation between the parties continues. K.G. LM LLC, a manager of Il Mulino, sought chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July for seven of 16 Il Mulino’s locations outside New York City, blaming the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and a dispute with BSP over a loan default.

Greylock Capital Associates filed for bankruptcy proceedings in New York as it seeks to trim down costs amid fund withdrawals, Bloomberg News reported. The chapter 11 proceedings will allow Greylock to terminate its lease in Madison Avenue, Manhattan, which costs about $100,000 per month, according to a filing dated Jan. 31, signed by Chief Financial Officer David Steltzer. Assets under management at the emerging markets hedge fund — which more than halved since 2017 to $450 million at the end of 2020 — will drop by $100 million by the end of March after the firm recorded three years of losses, according to the filing. The firm currently employs nine people and is in talks with its remaining major investors, confident that the business can “successfully reorganize and continue as a going concern” after the bankruptcy. Greylock, led by Chief Executive Officer Hans Humes, is known for taking bets on troubled sovereign debt, from Venezuela to Lebanon. It was one of the funds that negotiated the Greek government’s debt restructuring, according to its website.

USA Gymnastics in the two years since it filed for chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court’s Southern District of Indiana has rang up at least $13.6 million in legal fees, the Orange County (Calif.) Register reported. USA Gymnastics has used the services of at least eight law firms, paying three of them at least $1.6 million, in the 25 months since the sport’s Indianapolis-based national governing body declared bankruptcy. The organization’s legal bills have continued to mount against the backdrop of stalled negotiations between USA Gymnastics and attorneys for the more than 500 survivors of former Olympic and national team physician Larry Nassar and other high profile coaches’ alleged sexual abuse, a roundly rejected and controversial proposed settlement agreement, relentless criticism from former Olympians, national team members, and the public, increased Congressional scrutiny and largely unsuccessful attempts by USA Gymnastics to distance itself from the Nassar controversy which continues to loom over the sport and Olympic movement.

McKinsey & Co. is close to reaching a settlement with state attorneys general over advice it gave to Purdue Pharma LP and other opioid manufacturers that have been targeted by states over their alleged role in fueling the nation’s opioid crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported. The talks come amid the release of court filings in recent months detailing recommendations McKinsey made to Purdue on how to aggressively boost sales of its OxyContin painkiller at a time the country was reeling from opioid addiction and deaths. The potential deal could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, though the exact terms are still being worked out and discussions may not result in an agreement. McKinsey has told the states it is open to a deal that would avert any civil lawsuits attorneys general could file against the consulting firm. States and local governments have been investigating opioid-industry players for several years, filing thousands of lawsuits that pushed Purdue into bankruptcy in 2019 and have resulted in multibillion-dollar settlement talks with other manufacturers and drug distributors.

Genesis Healthcare Inc.’s decision to hand top executives millions of dollars in bonuses has put the country’s largest publicly traded nursing home operator in the crosshairs of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Citing bankruptcy warnings at the care-home chain, at which COVID-19 claimed more than 2,800 lives, Sen. Warren (D., Mass.) said Genesis Healthcare needs to answer for the decision to provide the bonuses, especially after accepting more than $300 million in state and federal pandemic aid. Former Chief Executive George V. Hager Jr. was paid a $5.2 million retention bonus in October 2020, then announced his retirement in January with a $650,000 retirement bonus and $300,000 consulting contract, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “I would like an explanation for this unfathomable greed amidst a public health tragedy and economic crisis,” Sen. Warren said in a letter sent Wednesday to the company’s headquarters in Kennett Square, Pa.

Talks aimed at getting Purdue Pharma’s owners to increase their contribution to the opioid maker’s bankruptcy settlement have stalled, with members of the billionaire Sackler family resisting demands from states to boost their offer by more than $2 billion, Bloomberg News reported. The Sacklers are willing to add more than $1 billion to their cash contribution, bringing their total to more than $4 billion. But attorneys general for states involved in the court-ordered mediation are seeking more than $5 billion to beef up addiction treatment and police budgets. Another sticking point is the Sacklers’ demand that they face no state criminal charges over Purdue’s illegal marketing of the painkillers. Members of the Sackler family have consistently denied any personal wrongdoing. Negotiators are still trying to resolve objections to Purdue’s reorganization plan, which would help state and local governments pay for damage caused by OxyContin and other opioid-based drugs blamed for more than 400,000 deaths. All told, the plan may provide as much as $10 billion, but the value could plummet if there’s no agreement with the Sacklers. This would mean far less cash for government and possibly leave some family members open to personal liability.

A pilots' union for Mexico's Grupo Aeromexico said it had accepted cuts amounting to $350 million on collective bargaining pacts in negotiations required for the airline to win a second tranche of bankruptcy financing, Reuters reported. The Association of Airmen Pilots (ASPA) voted to accept the reduction over the next four years to support the firm's financial restructuring, it said in a statement. Salary cuts for pilots ranged between 5% and 15%, while 79 pilots facing job cuts will be compensated under the agreement. The pilots also accepted fewer benefits, the union added. Aeromexico filed for chapter 11 protection in a U.S. court in June, after the coronavirus pandemic slammed the global travel industry. The carrier was approved for up to $1 billion in debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing, and received an initial $100 million payment in September. The company said in December it had completed negotiations with two other unions.

Century-old department store chain Belk Inc. said that it would file for bankruptcy with a deal in hand with its lenders and private-equity owner Sycamore Partners to cut $450 million in debt through a fast-track chapter 11 filing, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Sycamore, Belk’s owner since 2015, and lenders including KKR & Co. and Blackstone Group Inc. have committed to invest $225 million to recapitalize the company under restructuring terms that would shrink its $2.6 billion balance sheet. Belk said it planned to complete the prepackaged bankruptcy by the end of February and allow Sycamore to retain its majority stake. “As the ongoing effects of the pandemic have continued, we’ve been assessing potential options to protect our future,” Belk CEO Lisa Harper said Tuesday. “We’re confident that this agreement puts us on the right long-term path toward significantly reducing our debt…to continue investing in our business, including further enhancements and additions to Belk’s omnichannel capabilities.” The deal reflects Sycamore’s commitment to bricks-and-mortar retailers even after a wave of bankruptcy filings hit the sector last year following the temporary shutdown of most nonessential shopping amid the coronavirus pandemic. With nearly 300 stores mostly in the Southeast, Belk generated $3.8 billion in revenue in the 12 months ended November, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Belk has been slowing down payments to suppliers to conserve cash, according to a person familiar with the matter. Under the bankruptcy plan, Belk suppliers will continue to receive payment in the ordinary course for all goods and services, allowing the company to continue normal operations, the company said.

The U.S. division of French beauty products maker L’Occitane International SA has filed for bankruptcy, behind on $15 million in rent and seeking to shed lease obligations after the COVID-19 pandemic cut into sales, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The U.S. unit L’Occitane Inc., which operates 166 boutiques in 36 states and Puerto Rico, filed a chapter 11 petition Tuesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Trenton, N.J., for the purpose of relieving itself of what it called increasingly untenable lease obligations. Like other retailers, L’Occitane has been hurt by the pandemic, which has made consumers less willing to shop in person, according to a declaration filed in bankruptcy court by Yann Tanini, regional managing director for L’Occitane. The company filed court papers seeking to reject 29 “burdensome” lease agreements and exit from those locations, where it said its rent obligations “no longer reflect the market.” L’Occitane joins the ranks of a growing number of retailers, from huge department-store chains such as J.C. Penney Co. to boutiques like Sur La Table Inc., to have filed for chapter 11 during the pandemic. Even before the onset of COVID-19, L’Occitane experienced a decline in sales at its bricks-and-mortar stores, while revenue from e-commerce increased, but the pandemic intensified the trend. The pandemic has forced L’Occitane to “more aggressively address the rapidly widening gulf between its brick-and-mortar retail revenue and its substantial lease obligations, which no longer reflect the market,” Mr. Tanini said. L’Occitane tried to renegotiate lease terms with its landlords in hopes of completing an out-of-court restructuring. Landlords were reluctant to offer concessions sufficient for the company to remain viable, according to Mr. Tanini.