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Cici’s Holdings Inc., which operates and franchises the Cici’s Pizza buffet chain, and affiliated companies have filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection which involves the company’s sale to real estate company D & G Investors LLC, National Restaurant News reported. In Jan. 25 filings in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, Cici’s said the company owned 12 Cicis Pizza locations and franchised approximately 306 others to 128 franchisees. It said the chain’s wide variety of pizza, pasta and salad bar offerings made it a popular venue for large family and other gatherings. “Moreover, CiCi’s asset-light business model, which is grounded in its franchise model and distribution system, historically enabled CiCi’s to generate significant free cash flow with low capital expenditure requirements,” it said. It added that in its 2019 fiscal year, it generated $14.2 million in adjusted EBITDA on revenue of around $177.3 million. As a result of the pandemic, however, accompanied by related government occupancy restrictions and a decrease in consumer demand, the company’s revenue declined to $76.3 million resulting in an adjusted EBITDA loss of $2.7 million. As of Dec. 11, 2020, Cici’s Holdings had a total debt of $81.64 million. At the time of the bankruptcy filing, a total of 214 restaurants had closed, of which 67 had closed permanently, including 6 company-owned locations.

The Boy Scouts of America’s liability insurers threw doubt on the huge increase in sex-abuse claims filed against the youth organization after it filed for bankruptcy, claiming that plaintiffs’ attorneys and for-profit claims generators helped gin up tens of thousands of claims with little or no vetting, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. In Friday court filings, insurers affiliated with Chubb Ltd. and Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. point to messaging such as an email sent in November by the law firm Junell & Associates PLLC, telling clients that “time is quickly running out” to meet a court-designated deadline and that lawyers “can complete a claim form on your behalf,” based on information from an initial phone consultation. Some attorneys, including a managing partner from Junell, signed hundreds of claims in a single day, the insurers said, and others appear to have signed forms attesting to their truthfulness before they were even filled out. The Boy Scouts sought chapter 11 last year over their past failures to safeguard children from sexual predators, starting a court-supervised process in which the organization is trying to compensate survivors while protecting the bulk of its wealth. Negotiations are continuing between victims’ lawyers and the Boy Scouts, which has said it needs a settlement approved by early summer to survive.

Sycamore’s Belk Inc. is nearing a deal to file for bankruptcy with plans to hand an ownership stake to lenders, Bloomberg News reported. The deal would take the department store chain through a pre-arranged restructuring of its debt, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing the private talks. The terms aren’t final and could still change. The company has been working with Kirkland & Ellis and Lazard Ltd., Bloomberg earlier reported, while Willkie Farr & Gallagher and PJT Partners Inc. are advising a so-called crossholder group that includes large second-lien loan holders along with first-lien lenders and is led by Blackstone Credit. Department stores have struggled as shoppers have defected to specialized retailers and new online competitors. Closures because of COVID-19 and customers’ reduced desire to shop amid the pandemic have only heightened the pain. To cope with the situation, Charlotte, N.C.-based Belk delayed and halted payments to some vendors, Bloomberg previously reported. William Henry Belk opened his first store, called The New York Racket, in 1888. The mid-priced chain bought up other department store locations, primarily in the South, to grow to almost 300 locations in 16 states.

Women who have accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct will be compensated from a $17 million fund after a Delaware bankruptcy judge approved a plan to liquidate his former film studio, the Wall Street Journal reported. The women are expected on average to receive hundreds of thousands of dollars or more under the deal to liquidate Weinstein Co., which filed for bankruptcy in 2018 after numerous allegations of sexual abuse and harassment against Weinstein became public. Judge Mary Walrath of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., yesterday approved the settlement during a court hearing held via videoconference, saying that the deal provides Weinstein’s victims with a fair and private process for obtaining compensation without having to endure years of public and uncertain legal proceedings. Evidence presented during the chapter 11 case showed Weinstein abused women over several years, Judge Walrath said, adding that though the deal may provide closure for victims, compensation alone can’t provide complete recompense for harm they have suffered. The settlement, funded by insurance, is the culmination of years of negotiations and was revised last year after a New York federal judge rejected a related agreement. The deal approved by Judge Walrath gives women the option — but doesn’t require them — to release Weinstein of potential civil litigation, and they would receive greater compensation if they choose to do so.

Eagle Hospitality Trust, the Singapore-based group that operates the iconic Queen Mary and the Sheraton Pasadena, has filed for chapter 11 protection, the Los Angeles Business Journal reported. In total, more than two dozen hotels and other properties were part of the filing by the company, which has more than $500 million in debt. Eagle Hospitality stopped trading on the Singapore Stock Exchange in 2019 after defaulting on a loan from Bank of America. While the company operates the Queen Mary, the city of Long Beach owns the property, and Eagle Hospitality has a ground lease. The Queen Mary has been closed to the public since May due to the pandemic. Investment firm Urban Commons signed a lease to run the Queen Mary in 2016. In 2019, it created Eagle Hospitality Trust but ran into trouble. In the fall, the group ended its master lease agreements for Urban Commons hotels.

Movie theater giant AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. signed deals for $917 million in financing to survive the Covid-19 pandemic for months longer without resorting to bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported. AMC, the world’s largest movie theater chain, said it had executed a commitment letter for $411 million in debt financing through increasing the size of and refinancing a European credit facility while raising $506 million in equity since mid-December. “This means that any talk of an imminent bankruptcy for AMC is completely off the table,” said Chief Executive Adam Aron. The company had warned about its risk of bankruptcy since late last year. With the deals, AMC said that its financial runway has now been extended deep into 2021 and that while an increase in cinema attendance seems likely, the future course of the coronavirus means the company’s cash needs remain uncertain. The company also said that it presumed it would continue to make progress in negotiations with theater landlords over lease payments. Investors have been willing to keep AMC afloat even as it burned cash and theaters stayed largely dark as infections surged late last year. The pandemic has hit AMC hard as restrictions on indoor gathering forced the company to temporarily close most of its more than 1,000 theaters world-wide. AMC and its peers also face a challenge from major Hollywood studios that have either delayed releasing films or released them straight to streaming services during the pandemic, leaving cinemas with little content to show those viewers willing and able to brave a trip to the big screen. Warner Bros. said earlier this month that it would release its entire 2021 slate of films simultaneously in theaters and on its HBO Max streaming service, a drastic step in eliminating the exclusivity that theater chains have enjoyed for decades.

Imerys Talc America Inc. is poised for a final push for bankruptcy-court approval to poll creditors on a chapter 11 restructuring proposal covering allegations that materials mined by the company caused cancer and serious lung problems, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The Imerys SA unit has an appearance scheduled Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., with Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein, where the subsidiary hopes to get signoff on the materials to be sent out ahead of a creditor vote. The start of the voting process sets the stage for another round of clashes later this year with Johnson & Johnson, the health-care giant that was once Imerys Talc America’s biggest customer. Absent a settlement, Johnson & Johnson is expected to challenge Imerys Talc America’s chapter 11 plan, saying it amounts to an improper use of bankruptcy to shield its parent company, the French conglomerate Imerys. Imerys Talc America and Johnson & Johnson were both named in thousands of lawsuits alleging baby powder caused ovarian cancer. Both companies insist the product is safe, but a $4.7 billion jury verdict was rendered against Johnson & Johnson in 2018, touching off a feeding frenzy among attorneys that meant more lawsuits were on the way. The jury award was later cut in half.

Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. announced today that it has entered into a plan support agreement with holders of over 70% of each of its senior unsecured notes and revolving credit facility loans regarding a financial restructuring transaction that will significantly deleverage the company's balance sheet, according to a press release. As the company disclosed in April 2020, Diamond and certain of its subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. The plan support agreement outlines a comprehensive plan for deleveraging the company's balance sheet through the equitization of its senior unsecured notes, resulting in a reduction of over $2.1 billion of funded indebtedness. In addition, certain holders of senior unsecured notes have agreed to invest up to $110 million of new capital in the form of first lien, last out exit notes, while certain holders of revolving credit facility loans have agreed to provide exit financing facilities in the form of (a) a $300 million to $400 million first lien, first out revolving credit facility and (b) a $100 million to $200 million first lien, last out term loan facility.

The biggest lender to bankrupt Punch Bowl Social Inc. wants a chapter 11 trustee to take control of the entertainment chain, fearing the influence of a potential new financing provider as well as current investor Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc., WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. CrowdOut Capital LLC, the biggest lender to the Denver-based “eatertainment” business, has asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., for the appointment of a trustee, saying Punch Bowl can’t be trusted to make “independent and reasoned business decisions.” Bankrupt companies are usually allowed to continue managing themselves after seeking court protection. In the rare instances when management teams are determined to be incompetent or conflicted, outsiders can be appointed to handle the proceedings. CrowdOut, Punch Bowl’s biggest secured lender when the business entered bankruptcy last month, has been supplying emergency financing on an interim basis. CrowdOut said in its filing that Cracker Barrel and its allies on Punch Bowl’s board negotiated a loan “in the dark of night” with junior lender Sortis Holdings Inc. in violation of terms of the longstanding senior secured loan documents. CrowdOut said the proposed loan is “extremely expensive” and could move higher in the pecking order than its existing debt. It also questioned Punch Bowl’s commitment to run a robust sale process for its assets.