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Seadrill Postpones Restructuring Plan Hearing until Feb. 7

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Drilling rig company Seadrill has again postponed an initial hearing on its restructuring plan, this time by six days to Feb. 7, the company said yesterday in a U.S. court filing, Reuters reported. Once the largest drilling rig operator by market value, Seadrill filed for bankruptcy protection in Texas on Sept. 12 after being hit hard by cutbacks in oil company investment following a steep drop in crude prices. Seadrill’s main owner, Norwegian-born billionaire John Fredriksen, backed by Centerbridge Partners, and a group of unsecured bondholders have submitted alternative restructuring plans, and started talks earlier in January. While both sides offered to invest around a billion dollars in Seadrill to continue its business of renting drilling rigs to oil companies, unsecured bondholders are aiming to increase their stake in the post-restructured company from around 15 percent offered in the original plan.

Creditors Attempt to Put Nursing Home Chain into Bankruptcy

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Three unsecured creditors have filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition against a New Castle, Del., nursing home that is part of a chain of 22 facilities, mostly in Pennsylvania, that were put into receivership in September by their landlord, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The creditors, Healthcare Services Group Inc., McKesson Medical-Surgical Minnesota Supply Inc., and Medline Industries, said in their Jan. 12 petition that New Castle Health and Rehabilitation Center owed them a total of $262,529. The owner of the New Castle nursing home is Oak Health & Rehabilitation Centers Inc., a nonprofit headed by Bala Cynwyd lawyer Howard Jaffe. Oak was formed to take over 22 former Extendicare facilities, including 20 in Pennsylvania and one in West Virginia, in additional to the New Castle facility, in 2015. The landlords of the Oak facilities, affiliates of Formation Capital, a major player nationally in nursing-home ownership, put all 22 Oak facilities in receivership, a state court alternative to bankruptcy that provides no protection for unsecured creditors, after Oak missed at least three rent payments totaling $10.5 million.

Woodbridge Group Strikes Deal to End Fight for Control of Company

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The battle for control of Woodbridge Group of Companies LLC, the bankrupt real estate operation caught up in an alleged $1 billion Ponzi scheme, ended Tuesday with a settlement that includes the resignation of the turnaround management team hired by ex-chief executive and accused fraudster Robert Shapiro, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. New board members of the embattled company include Michael Goldberg, a Florida lawyer who specializes in cleaning up after Ponzi scheme fraud, and Freddie Reiss and Richard Nevins, both turnaround executives with decades of experience. Shapiro, who has denied the Securities and Exchange Commission’s claims he ran Woodbridge as a Ponzi scheme, will no longer have influence on the company’s affairs under the deal. His alleged victims, including thousands of elderly people who plunged big chunks of their life savings into Woodbridge, will get more help advocating for their interests in the bankruptcy case, as part of a settlement.

Toys ‘R’ Us to Shutter Stores in Bid to Exit Bankruptcy

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Toys ‘R’ Us Inc. is planning to close about 180 U.S. stores as part of a reorganization plan to emerge from its September bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported. The move to shutter about 20 percent of its U.S. store base, which needs court approval, comes four months after the world’s largest toy chain filed for protection from its creditors, a response to years of lackluster results and an unsustainable $5 billion debt load. The closures will begin next month, with Babies ‘R’ Us locations accounting for at least half. Toys ‘R’ Us had a challenging Christmas shopping season in the U.S. and overseas, Chief Executive Officer Dave Brandon wrote in a letter to employees that was obtained by Bloomberg News. While the bankruptcy hurt customer confidence and disrupted other parts of the business, the company has made operational mistakes that need to be fixed, he said.

Roscoe's Parent Company Draws Up Plan to Emerge From Bankruptcy

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A March 1 court date is set in Los Angeles to discuss a plan for the parent company of Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles to emerge from bankruptcy, NBC Los Angeles reported. East Coast Foods Inc. filed for chapter 11 protection in March 2016 after the company was ordered to pay $3.2 million to a former employee who won a wrongful termination and discrimination lawsuit against the soul food chain. East Coast Foods estimated in court filings that it has debts between $10 million and $50 million with assets of less than $50,000. "There is a now a plan that could end this case and pay all the creditors 100 percent — which is rare," said attorney Robert Marticello. Marticello said that he anticipates that it will take six years to execute the plan and completely pay all creditors.

Cumulus Unveils Recoveries Under Chapter 11 Plan

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Cumulus Media Inc.’s junior bondholders will recover less than 14 cents on the dollar of the face value of $637 million in bonds, according to the company’s reorganization plan, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Cumulus unveiled the estimated recoveries in a chapter 11 plan that hands the lion’s share of the reorganized company’s equity to its term loan holders, court papers said. Junior bondholders and management will receive the remaining 16.5 percent of the company’s shares, according to court papers. The plan has the support of 69 percent of the radio station owner’s term-loan holders.

Management Resigns from U.S. Firm Accused of $1.2 Billion Ponzi Scheme

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An independent management team resigned from the Woodbridge Group of Companies on Friday after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sought a court-appointed trustee to run the property firm that the regulator called a $1.2 billion Ponzi fraud, Reuters reported. The team included Marc Beilinson as independent manager and Lawrence Perkins of SierraConstellation Partners LLC as chief restructuring officer, Woodbridge said in a statement. Perkins will remain until the company hires a chief executive with homebuilding experience, it added. The moves came hours after the conclusion of three days of hearings in Wilmington, Del., during which the SEC and the official committee of unsecured creditors pushed to replace the pair with an independent trustee. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey scheduled closing arguments for Tuesday.

Philadelphia Energy Solutions to File for Bankruptcy

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Philadelphia Energy Solutions LLC, the owner of the largest U.S. East Coast oil refining complex, announced to its employees on Sunday that it plans to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to an internal memo reviewed by Reuters. The bankruptcy would come six years after private equity firm Carlyle Group LP and Energy Transfer Partners LP’s Sunoco Inc. rescued Philadelphia Energy Solutions from financial distress, in a deal that was supported by tax breaks and grants that saved thousands of jobs. Following an agreement with its creditors, the company has secured access to $260 million in new financing, and said that it expected the bankruptcy filing to have no immediate impact on its employees, according to the memo. Philadelphia Energy Solutions owns two refineries, Girard Point and Point Breeze. It can convert about 335,000 barrels of crude oil per day to products such as gasoline, jet fuel and diesel. It employs about 1,100 people.

Eclipse Berry Farms Files for Bankruptcy

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The Los Angeles, Calif.-based Eclipse Berry Farms and it subsidiaries Rosalyn Farms LLC and Harvest Moon Strawberry Farms have filed for chapter 11 protection, The Packer reported. Ryan Du, accounts payable for Eclipse Berry, said on Jan. 18 that the firm will continue to operate but gave no timeline on the company’s future plans. The company filed for bankruptcy on Jan. 16 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. It estimates that it has more than 200 creditors and liabilities of more than $50 million. Estimated assets are between $10 million and $50 million, according to the filing.

J.P. Morgan, Oaktree Capital Others Take Post-Bankruptcy Ownership of 21st Century Oncology

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21st Century Oncology Holdings, Inc., the largest global provider of integrated cancer care services, announced that it has emerged from chapter 11 under new owners, ABL Advisor reported. The company's new owners include certain funds and accounts managed by Beach Point Capital Management LP, Governors Lane, LP, J.P. Morgan Investment Management, Inc. Oaktree Capital Management, LP, Roystone Capital Management LP, and HPS Investment Partners LLC. With a substantially improved balance sheet and operating footprint, the company said that it has greater financial flexibility to enhance its ability to provide critical medical care and services to oncology patients across the world.