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Of at least 10 merchants to file for chapter 11 protection from creditors in the past year, four are taking the trip to bankruptcy court for the second time in as many years, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. After struggling to boost earnings after the financial crisis, retailers have been battered by declining foot traffic, the rise of big-box stores and the growing clout of Amazon.com. Many were further encumbered when they took on debt to fund private equity-sponsored acquisitions. The existence of repeat filers points not only to the depth of the retail crisis, but also to the tensions at play in any restructuring. “Unfortunately, there’s a natural pressure to over-lever a company coming out of bankruptcy,” said Keith Maib, a senior managing director at turnaround advisory firm Mackinac Partners. “The old holders want to continue to be debt holders,” he said, which makes it difficult for a company to reduce the amount of money it owes. Data from the UCLA-LoPucki bankruptcy research database show that of 66 retailers that filed for chapter 11 since 1979, only 40 emerged, with the rest liquidating their assets in the court process. Of those that did survive, 19 eventually ended up back in court.

The maker of Aerosoles flexible-sole footwear filed for bankruptcy as it looks to sell or refinance around its e-commerce unit, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. AeroGroup International, established in 1987 through a buyout of a Kenneth Cole division, estimated around $109 million in debt as of Friday’s chapter 11 filing, and said that it plans to continue evaluating store closing. It operates 78 stores across the U.S., after closing around 30 in 2016. The New Jersey-based footwear maker seeks a proposal to buy or finance a business around its wholesale and e-commerce units. “Declining mall traffic, a highly promotional and competitive retail environment, and a shift in customer demand and preference for online shopping versus the traditional brick and mortar environment” all contributed to Aerosoles’s declining fortunes after more than 30 years of profitable operations, Mark Weinstein, the company’s chief restructuring officer, said in a court filing. The company said it wants a proposal within 60 days to exit chapter 11 by the end of the year.

Technology-products distributor WYNIT, which closed its Greenville, S.C., headquarters unexpectedly Aug. 25, has filed for bankruptcy, citing more than $106 million in outstanding debts, the Greenville News reported today. Top among the now Minnesota-based company's creditors is Fitbit Inc., at $31 million. Chief Operating Officer Pete Richichi filed the paperwork in Minnesota bankruptcy court on Sept. 6. He and WYNIT's president and founder, Geoffrey Lewis, are listed as 50-50 owners of the enterprise. "Due to a number of unexpected financial issues combined with a disappointing holiday selling season, WYNIT Distribution LLC announced a reorganization today that will close its Wholesale Distribution Division based locally," a statement from the company said at the time. WYNIT Distribution was a marketing, distribution and logistics company that launched in 1987. With operations in Minnesota, Tennessee, Nevada and Ontario, the company delivered high-tech goods such as 3-D printers, drones and software to companies around the country.

The CEO of U.S. nuclear reactor maker Westinghouse said that the company does not expect to come out of chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings before the end of 2017 but hopes to complete restructuring in early 2018, Reuters reported. Cost overruns at four nuclear reactors it was building in the United States pushed Westinghouse, a unit of Japan’s Toshiba Corp, into bankruptcy in March. Utilities in the U.S. state of South Carolina abandoned construction of two of those reactors in July. Asked when the company could emerge from chapter 11 proceedings, Westinghouse Chief Executive Officer Jose Gutierrez told Reuters: “The timeline is complicated, but it will obviously not happen this year.” He said it could happen quickly once a solution was found for the remaining two U.S. reactors under construction in Georgia, adding that the rest of the firm was in good shape. Southern Co, the utility building two reactors at Georgia’s Vogtle plant, has hired Bechtel to finalise work and is in talks with Westinghouse about the nuclear part of the project, scheduled for completion by 2022, six years late.

The latest court reports show that telecoms firm Avaya, which filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in January, has filed a new motion with the bankruptcy court, requesting a third extension to its exclusive debtor plan, Computing reported yesterday. If accepted, the company will be able to solicit acceptances through both the 30th November 2017 and 21st January 2018. Since its second exclusivity extension in late July, Avaya has been able to negotiate a Stipulation of Settlement with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., stating that the company has been able to resolve issues with qualified pension liabilities.

San Antonio’s City Tours Inc. emerged from bankruptcy yesterday almost 14 months after it sought protection from creditors because of troubles with its airport-shuttle business, the San Antonio Express-News reported yesterday. Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Ronald King confirmed the chapter 11 reorganization plan for City Tours, which operates a charter bus service, along with double decker buses and trolleys offering tours of San Antonio. City Tours filed for bankruptcy reorganization in July 2016, blaming increased competition from Uber and Lyft for siphoning away revenue from its SuperShuttle shared-ride service at San Antonio International Airport. City Tours’ downtown hotel shuttle contract at the airport was not renewed and expired at the end of May. The company also attributed its financial difficulties to airport construction, which led to the relocation of its ticket counters away from passenger traffic areas, according to a July court filing.

NRG Energy Inc.’s plan for a friendly divorce from GenOn Energy Inc. faces a court test this week as owners of power plants in Maryland ask a judge to award them as much as $620 million in damages, the Wall Street Journal reported today. A win by the power plant owners would be a loss for GenOn’s bondholders and a probable upset of the chapter 11 plan. Bondholders back a restructuring plan that separates GenOn from NRG, swapping out $1.8 billion in debt for equity in a stand-alone power-generation company. NRG acquired GenOn in 2012 for $1.7 billion. With confirmation hearings slated to start Nov. 13, the question of how much the plant owners could be owed is a major factor. Judge David Jones in Houston is being asked to set the value of the plant owners’ claims; the higher the estimated figure, the more leverage they have in deciding GenOn’s fate. Hurt by low energy prices, NRG has embarked on a program of unloading assets and cutting costs, and GenOn’s June bankruptcy filing is part of the transformation process.

Vitamin World Inc., a specialty retailer formerly owned by vitamin manufacturing giant Nature’s Bounty, filed for chapter 11 protection on Monday with a plan to close dozens of its underperforming stores, the Wall Street Journal reported. The vitamin and supplements seller said in court papers that it has identified 51 stores it intends to close as part of its restructuring under chapter 11. Vitamin World, which operates some 334 stores, blamed its bankruptcy on “significant supply chain and ingredient availability disruptions” along with “above-market rents and underperforming retail stores,” in papers filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del.

Seadrill Ltd, the indebted oil rig firm controlled by Norwegian billionaire John Fredriksen, has agreed to a restructuring that almost wipes out existing shareholders after filing for chapter 11 protection, Reuters reported yesterday. A deal with a consortium of investors, as well as bank lenders and many of its bondholders, will bring in more than $1 billion in fresh funding and aims to allow the firm to maintain its fleet of drilling units and pay creditors and staff. However, its shareholders will see their stakes heavily diluted. “Holders of Seadrill common stock will receive approximately 2 percent of the post-restructured equity,” Seadrill said yesterday. More than 97 percent of its secured bank lenders, including DNB, Danske Bank and Nordea, supported the deal, as did approximately 40 percent of bondholders and a consortium of investors led by Fredriksen’s Hemen Holding Ltd. The banks agreed to defer maturities of secured credit facilities, totaling $5.7 billion, by approximately five years with no amortization payments until 2020, Seadrill said.