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The expiration date for Necco wafers, the pre-Civil War chalky sweets that were facing extinction, just got an extension, the Wall Street Journal reported. Ohio-based Spangler Candy Co. made a winning bid of $18.83 million at a federal bankruptcy auction in Boston on Wednesday for the assets of the New England Confectionery Co., the 171-year-old maker of the Necco candy. The sale to family-owned Spangler—which makes Dum Dums lollipops and the orange marshmallow Circus Peanuts—is expected to close Friday. In March, New England Confectionery—creators of the iconic wafer since 1847 and the oldest continually operated candy maker in the country—notified its hometown of Revere, Mass., that it would close operations in May and lay off hundreds of workers if the company didn’t find a new owner. The company, which is owned by New York investment firm Ares Capital, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April.

Toys “R” Us Inc. is moving forward with the sale of its brand name and other intellectual property assets as it continues to wind down its U.S. business and sell other parts of the international retailer’s empire, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Bankruptcy Judge Keith Phillips signed off on the sale procedures to sell these assets. The intellectual property assets include both the Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us brand names, website domain names, customer service lists and registries, and even the rights to the retailer’s mascot, Geoffrey the Giraffe. Even the data collected from the U.S. customer files, including product history, loyalty programs and the “birthday club,” will be a part of the package, court papers show. A consumer privacy ombudsman will be appointed to oversee the sale of such data.

Chef Jose Garces won a victory late Tuesday when a federal judge allowed most of his bankruptcy case to proceed, paving the way for a sale of much of his restaurant empire, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Bankruptcy Judge Jerrold N. Poslusny said that operating agreements for Amada, Village Whiskey, Tinto, and the Olde Bar allowed Garces to file for bankruptcy protection over the objections of two of his early investors, food distributor Jim Sorkin and a New Jersey couple, Tom and Maria Spinner. Judge Poslusny also ruled that Garces did not have authority to file on behalf of Buena Onda, his taqueria. Sorkin also owns a small percentage of that restaurant.

Bridgeport Health Care Center, which filed for bankruptcy on April 18, was raided yesterday, according to the union representing most of the facility’s workers, the Connecticut Post reported. Sherrie Weller, president of AFSCME Local 1522, said she knows little about the substance of the raid, but knows that a warrant was served and that FBI, Department of Labor staff and other law enforcement were on site yesterday morning. Weller and a small group of the workers staged a press conference and protest at the nursing home — which employs about 400 people — in early April, alleging that the workers weren’t getting paid on time, that there were insufficient funds deposited in their credit union and the company is failing to pay the third-party administrator that manages the workers’ health care benefits. At the time of their protests, the union and the workers laid much of their woes at the feet of the health care center’s chief financial officer Chaim Stern. Stern has been embattled for some time. In 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor sued him for allegedly diverting $4 million in retirement plan assets to a New York-based religious corporation and to himself.

The Miami Medical Center filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March, and the 67-bed hospital is slated to be sold in auction in late June, Becker's Hospital Review reported. Leawood, Kan.-based Nueterra, along with its partners, acquired Miami Medical Center in 2014 and invested $70 million in the facility. Children's Health Ventures, the for-profit arm of Miami-based Nicklaus Children's Hospital, invested in Miami Medical Center with hopes of bringing a unique care model to South Florida. However, the Miami Medical Center struggled to stay afloat. The hospital suspended patient services Oct. 30, 2017, and subsequently laid off its 180 employees. It filed for bankruptcy protection March 9, 2018. On March 30, Miami Medical Center filed a motion to approve bidding procedures for the sale of the hospital and to approve certain protections to the stalking-horse purchaser Nicklaus Children's Hospital. The general unsecured creditors' committee and a group of physicians objected to the proposed bidding procedures and the ability of Nicklaus Children's Hospital to credit the amount of its liens on Miami Medical Center. Read more. 

For more on hospital and health care insolvencies, be sure to pick up a copy of the ABI Health Care Insolvency Manual, Third Edition from the ABI Bookstore. 

The Houston Astros and the former owner of the Houston Rockets are gearing up to fight Comcast Corp.’s demand for $74 million stemming from the 2013 bankruptcy of a Houston sports television channel, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Houston’s regional sports channel exited bankruptcy in 2014 under the control of AT&T Inc. and DirecTV and has relaunched as AT&T SportsNet Southwest. But the chapter 11 proceedings returned to Judge Marvin Isgur of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston yesterday because of a lingering debt dispute between the network’s former co-owners. Comcast was owed more than $100 million in loans it provided to create Comcast SportsNet Houston, which broadcast games of the National Basketball Association’s Houston Rockets and Major League Baseball’s Houston Astros. Along with Comcast, the Astros and the Rockets owned stakes in the network.

The law firm of adult film star Stormy Daniels' attorney, Michael Avenatti, was hit with a $10-million judgment yesterday in bankruptcy court after he broke his promise to pay $2 million to a former colleague, the Los Angeles Times reported. Bankruptcy Judge Catherine Bauer ordered the Eagan Avenatti law firm to pay the $10 million to Jason Frank, a lawyer who used to work at the Newport Beach firm. To settle his law firm's bankruptcy, Avenatti had personally guaranteed that the $2 million would be paid to Frank last week, but both he and his firm failed to turn over the money. At the hearing, the U.S. Justice Department revealed that Avenatti has also defaulted on just over $440,000 in back taxes, penalties and interest that he had personally promised to pay the Internal Revenue Service under another bankruptcy settlement for his law firm. Assistant U.S. Atty. Najah Shariff told the judge that the federal government would soon file a motion demanding payment. Under the Jan. 30 bankruptcy settlement, Avenatti personally agreed to pay the IRS $2.4 million in back taxes, penalties and interest, court records show.

Banks owed nearly $1.3 billion are taking over Harvey Gulf International Marine in bankruptcy, but Chief Executive Shane Guidry is keeping his job and a five-year pay package worth, at a minimum, more than $40 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. Harvey Gulf, which operates under the HGIM Holdings corporate umbrella, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March, its fleet of 60 of offshore drilling supply and service vessels worth less than what the company owed its lenders, according to court papers. Harvey Gulf is asking a bankruptcy judge in Houston to approve a turnaround plan that swaps out the senior debt for equity and new debt, and offers an assortment of pay enhancements to Guidry.

Lawyers for chef Jose Garces yesterday successfully argued in favor of giving bonuses to about 30 key employees to retain them during what Garces hopes will be an auction and sale of his troubled restaurant empire, Philly.com reported. Garces’ interim chief executive officer John Fioretti took the stand and testified that the operation was already “super-skinny” after two rounds of layoffs. Fioretti said bonuses mostly of about $5,000 each were needed to keep essential managers, including the vice president for culinary, who is in charge of the kitchens at each restaurant, and the chief culture officer, who in addition to overseeing training now supervises human resources, during a transition to a new owner. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jerrold N. Poslusny allowed the bonuses for all but the chief financial officer, whom he deemed an “insider.”

Surveillance camera maker Arecont Vision LLC has asked a bankruptcy judge for approval to send its business to the auction block, hoping to complete a sale to a New York-based private-equity firm by mid-July, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Court papers filed on Friday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., show that the company is preparing an auction for bidders to compete with a $10 million offer from an affiliate of Turnspire Capital Partners LLC. The sale process will be supervised by Judge Christopher Sontchi, and the proposed timeline and rules governing the auction must first win his signature. Arecont Vision has asked for a June 29 deadline for competing bids and a July 5 auction. A court hearing to approve the results of that auction would follow July 6.