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Victims of Bernard Madoff’s $20 billion Ponzi scheme are set to start 2021 with checks totaling more than $190 million, the latest installment in loss-compensation payments from the trustee who’s been liquidating the con man’s business for more than a decade, Bloomberg News reported. The 12th distribution in the long-running case includes more than $74 million in settlements and courtroom recoveries since the last payout in February, trustee Irving Picard said yesterday. The payouts associated with 813 accounts will average $234,631 each and will boost total victim recoveries to 69.6 percent of approved claims, the trustee said. “With our next expected distribution, we will have returned to customers almost 70 percent of the money stolen by Bernard Madoff, much more than anyone ever predicted,” Picard said. Since Madoff’s New York-based firm collapsed in December 2008, the trustee has been reimbursing victims by suing investors who made money off the fraud by withdrawing more cash from their accounts than they put in. After the next payout, the total amount returned to victims will rise to $14.1 billion, he said. A hearing on the plan is set for Jan. 20 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.

Nile Niami, the brash real-estate developer known for his over-the-top megamansions, has placed one of his high-priced spec homes in bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported. A company controlled by Niami filed for bankruptcy protection for a home the developer built in West Hollywood, records show. The property first came on the market for $55 million in early 2019, but the price was later reduced to $39.995 million. The property isn’t currently publicly listed for sale. The filing values the property at $30 million, and lists the company’s total liabilities at $59.244 million. Niami was facing the prospect of a foreclosure sale at the property, records show. In April, a limited-liability company tied to Canadian investor Lucien Remillard, one of his lenders and a longtime partner, filed a notice of default on the property.

Ascena Retail Group Inc. has won court approval to sell its Ann Taylor, Lane Bryant, Loft and Lou & Grey retail brands out of bankruptcy to private-equity firm Sycamore Partners in a deal valued at about $1 billion, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Huennekens of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, Va., said yesterday that he would approve the sale of the majority of Ascena’s remaining assets to Sycamore Partners. The private-equity firm, which specializes in retail and consumer investments, had agreed last month to a purchase price of $540 million, subject to certain adjustments, the assumption of some liabilities and other terms. The deal, which could close by next week, will preserve the business as a going concern with at least 900 stores. As of late August, Ascena operated 1,500 retail locations throughout the U.S., down from its previous roughly 2,800 stores.

Francesca’s Holdings Corp. plans to seek court approval in January for a bidding process to sell its specialty retail business out of bankruptcy and close nearly 100 stores, on top of the nearly 140 stores it closed earlier this year, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Houston-based Francesca’s, which filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, has tapped investment firm TerraMar Capital LLC to serve as the potential lead bidder for substantially all of its assets. The $23.1 million offer is dependent on the completion of an asset purchase agreement and subject to better and higher offers. The boutique chain, which sells apparel, jewelry, accessories and gifts, found that a restructuring wasn’t possible without selling a majority of the business. Francesca’s expects the purchase price to cover the secured debt, some other liabilities, as well as administrative and wind-down expenses. In court papers, Francesca’s valued its assets at $264.7 million and listed total liabilities of $290.5 million. Its largest shareholder is investment firm Cross River Capital Management LLC.

Robert Rasmus, the founder of oilfield services firm Hi-Crush Inc. who profited as the business spiraled into bankruptcy, lost his positions at the firm in a recent restructuring, Reuters reported. Rasmus was replaced as CEO last month by Dirk Hallen, former chief executive of oilfield firm Pronghorn Logistics, and was replaced as board chairman by Colin Leonard, a partner at energy investor Clearlake Capital Group. Rasmus no longer appears on a company website that lists its directors.Rasmus and other executives at the frack sand supplier collected tens of millions of dollars from sales of assets to Hi-Crush, from stock purchases made just ahead of a share buyback, and from bonus issued days before the company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in July this year. The bankruptcy restructuring wiped out the value of its shares and debt holders received 9.3 million new shares. The restructuring eliminated $450 million in existing debt. A new board was appointed as part of its restructuring.

Norwegian Air was given additional creditor protection by a court in Norway yesterday on top of that granted by an Irish judge on Monday, allowing the cash-strapped airline’s restructuring efforts to continue, Reuters reported. “A supplementary reconstruction process under Norwegian law will be to the benefit of all parties and will increase the likelihood of a successful result,” Chief Executive Jacob Schram said. The company, which helped transform transatlantic travel, expanding the European budget airline business model to longer-haul destinations, has been forced to ground all but six of its 140 aircraft amid the COVID-19 pandemic. If successful in convincing creditors and owners of its future potential, Norwegian could, with the help of the courts, emerge as a smaller but more efficient carrier with fewer aircraft, less debt and more equity. The airline, which has said it could run out of cash by the end of the first quarter of next year, aims to complete the debt restructuring by Feb. 26.

The U.S. Small Business Administration opposes Astria Health’s bankruptcy plan, saying $2.7 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans it received in June should be considered a high-ranking claim in its reorganization, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The SBA said that Astria is claiming that the loans needn’t be repaid. “While a PPP loan may be forgivable under certain circumstances, it is nevertheless a loan, not a grant,” the SBA said on Friday in a filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Yakima, Wash. The Sunnyside, Wash.-based nonprofit health system, which filed for chapter 11 last year, will seek approval of its bankruptcy plan in mid-December. Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or Cares Act, in response to the economic devastation caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Its programs include PPP loans. The SBA’s PPP application says that bankrupt companies aren’t eligible for the loans, causing banks to deny their requests. But some legal experts, affected companies and at least two federal judges have said nothing in the Cares Act indicates Congress meant to withhold stimulus funds from troubled companies that have turned to bankruptcy. Some businesses have sued the SBA over the matter. Astria sued the SBA in May and sought a temporary restraining order, asking the court to require the federal agency to consider its PPP application despite the business being in bankruptcy. The SBA opposed the motion. The court in June granted Astria’s motion and a preliminary injunction, and shortly thereafter Astria received the PPP loans. The SBA has appealed.

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. said yesterday that its retail and operating assets would exit chapter 11 as two of its biggest landlords, Simon Property Group and Brookfield Asset Management Inc., have acquired nearly all such assets, Reuters reported. The iconic 118-year-old department store had filed for bankruptcy in May after the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to temporarily close its then nearly 850 stores. J.C. Penney will continue to operate the properties and distribution centers moved into the property holding companies. Chief Executive Officer Jill Soltau said the J.C. Penney banner would continue to serve its customers. With the completion of the sale, the company will have access to about $1.5 billion in new financing, it said. The property holding companies that comprise 160 of the retailer’s real estate assets and all of its distribution centers are expected to complete the restructuring process and emerge from bankruptcy protection in the first half of 2021.

Superior Energy Services Inc. filed for bankruptcy yesterday with a plan to eliminate almost all of its debt, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The Houston-based company, which rents and sells equipment used in oil and gas drilling, filed for chapter 11 reorganization in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston with a fast-track plan to cut the debt and hand over ownership to its bondholders. Superior expects to emerge from bankruptcy in early 2021, Chief Executive David Dunlap said. The company will ask the bankruptcy court to confirm its reorganization plan by Jan. 25, court filings show. The company has a pre-packaged restructuring plan that has been agreed to by holders of about 85 percent of the company’s $1.3 billion of senior unsecured notes, according to court papers filed by Chief Financial Officer Westervelt Ballard Jr. Superior, which has operations spanning the Asia-Pacific region, Africa, Europe and the Middle East, kept most of its businesses outside the U.S. out of bankruptcy, court filings show. Superior also has lined up a loan commitment of as much as $200 million to finance the company once it exits bankruptcy from parties including some of its note holders, according to the filings.

Dominion Diamond Mines ULC said yesterday that it reached a deal to sell its Ekati mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories to holders of its second lien notes, eight months after seeking bankruptcy protection amid a worldwide upheaval in the diamond industry, Reuters reported. Closely held Dominion, owned by the Washington Companies, filed for creditor protection in April, citing disruption to the global diamond trade caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic. Under the deal, which is subject to court approval, an entity controlled by DDJ Capital Management and Brigade Capital Management will acquire nearly all of Dominion’s assets in exchange for the assumption of $70 million in debt, Dominion said in a statement. The deal does not include Dominion’s 40 percent stake in global miner Rio Tinto’s nearby Diavik mine, which is the subject of a separate dispute between the companies. Calgary-based Dominion said the bidders would provide $70 million in working capital, with operations at the Ekati mine restarting no later than Jan. 29, 2021.