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Navicent Outbids Prime to Acquire Bankrupt Georgia Hospital

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Macon, Ga.-based Navicent Health will acquire Milledgeville, Ga.-based Oconee Regional Medical Center, which filed for chapter 11 protection in May, Becker's Hospital Review reported yesterday. ORMC filed the necessary motions in bankruptcy court in May to sell its assets to Prime Healthcare Foundation, the Ontario, Calif.-based nonprofit arm of Prime Healthcare Services. The motions included the opportunity for other interested parties to submit bids to acquire ORMC. The auction was held June 29 and Navicent was the highest bidder. The following day, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Georgia approved the transaction. 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. 

Charlotte-Area School Claims Bankruptcy after Student Athlete Files Class-Action Suit

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Jireh Preparatory Academy in Matthews, N.C., and its athletic program, Jireh Prep Athletics, Inc,. have filed for bankruptcy protection, just months after a class-action suit alleged that it did not follow through on promises made to help students win recruitment by NCAA schools, the Charlotte Observer. Documents for a chapter 7 bankruptcy were filed on Wednesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court Western District of North Carolina. The filing says that the school, a nonprofit, owes about 50 creditors nearly $88,000, but has assets of less than $65,000. The academy has no money in any of its bank accounts, according to the documents.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire to Buy Electric-Grid Giant Oncor

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Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. struck a deal to buy one of the country’s biggest power-transmission companies, cementing electricity as one of the conglomerate’s largest businesses, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Berkshire said that it will buy bankrupt Energy Future Holdings Corp. for $9 billion in cash, giving Buffett its Texas-based Oncor. Including debt, the deal has an enterprise value of about $18 billion. Oncor is owned by Energy Future, formerly TXU, which was the subject of the biggest leveraged buyout on record in 2007. Laden with debt, Energy Future filed for bankruptcy protection in 2014.

Injured Drivers Get Official Committee in Takata's U.S. Bankruptcy

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People injured by Takata Corp's defective air bags were given an official committee in the bankruptcy of its U.S. unit yesterday, allowing them to challenge restructuring plans that plaintiffs' lawyers have criticized as protective of automakers, Reuters reported. A seven-member committee will represent economic loss and personal injury or tort claimants, David Buchbinder, a lawyer with the U.S. Department of Justice's U.S. Trustee Program, told a meeting of creditors of Takata's U.S. business. William Weintraub, a lawyer with Goodwin Procter who is not involved in the Takata case, said that he expected the committee "to be active and to make sure that the claims of the car manufacturers are not treated preferentially and that tort victims are fairly compensated." A second five-member committee of suppliers and vendors was also appointed, according to Buchbinder.

St. Louis Sandwich Distributor Troverco Files for Bankruptcy

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Troverco, a St. Louis-based distributor of packaged sandwiches and other foods to convenience stores in 22 states, has filed for bankruptcy, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported yesterday. The privately held company plans to lay off about 130 of its 230 employees, according to CEO Joseph Trover Jr. Affected employees, including about seven in St. Louis, have been notified, he said. Troverco filed for chapter 11 protection on Thursday, listing between $1 million and $10 million in both estimated assets and liabilities.

Two Boots Founders’ NYC Townhouse to Be Shopped in Bankruptcy

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A Manhattan townhouse co-owned by the estranged founders of Two Boots, a New York City chain of quirky pizzerias, is being shopped in bankruptcy to pay off more than $5 million in debt as the restaurant grows beyond its roots in the gentrifying neighborhood, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The five-story, 8,500-square-foot East Village residence, currently in chapter 11, has been the object of a court fight between former partners Phil Hartman and Doris Kornish, who filed for divorce in 2005. Real-estate broker Warburg Realty said that it intends to list the property for $10 million. A final sale would need to be approved by a judge. Two Boots isn’t directly affected by the bankruptcy, and Hartman said sales have been strong. Some business debt is attached to the property, though, including a loan taken out in 2013 that with fees and interest has increased to $2.3 million.

U.S. Denim Retailer True Religion Files for Bankruptcy Protection

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U.S. denim retailer True Religion Apparel Inc. said today that it filed for bankruptcy protection and signed a restructuring agreement with a majority of its lenders, Reuters reported. True Religion, a company whose denims have gradually fallen out of style, filed for chapter 11 protection in the District of Delaware, and listed assets and liabilities in the range of $100 million to $500 million. The restructuring agreement with lenders, including TowerBrook Capital Partners, will slash the company's debt by over $350 million, it said in a statement. The denim retailer's financial struggles are due in part to consumer tastes shifting toward online shopping and away from the brick-and-mortar shops and department stores where the company's jeans have been primarily sold. True Religion said that it has secured post-petition debtor-in-possession financing from Citizens Bank for up to $60 million.

Cecil Bancorp Plans to Recapitalize through Bankruptcy Sale

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Cecil Bancorp has reached a deal with investors to recapitalize the long-troubled bank with $30 million and plans to use a bankruptcy auction to secure the cash, the Baltimore Sun reported on Monday. The investors have not been named, but Cecil President and CEO Terrie Spiro said the group includes investment funds that focus on banks and high-net worth individuals from across the country, who were organized by Hovde Group, an investment banking firm. The plan, which requires federal approval, is meant to prevent the Elkton-based parent of Cecil Bank from failing. In 2015, federal banking regulators ordered Cecil to raise capital within 90 days but took no action when the bank missed the deadline and its loss continued to mount. The bank holding company filed for a chapter 11 reorganization in Baltimore's federal bankruptcy court on Friday. The bank's routine business for customers, including deposits and loan commitments, are unaffected by the bankruptcy.

Wordsworth Academy Files for Bankruptcy, Will Be Acquired

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Public Health Management Corp. has agreed to acquire Wordsworth Academy Inc. — which operated a residential treatment facility where a teenager died last fall in a struggle with staffers — in a deal that will send the Philadelphia human-services agency through bankruptcy court, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported on Friday. “Wordsworth has had its share of problems,” said Lawrence G. McMichael, a Dilworth Paxson attorney hired to handle the bankruptcy, which was filed Friday. “They have litigation against them. They have litigation threatened. They have lost the license to operate the Ford Road facility.” That West Philadelphia facility is where David Hess, 17, of Lebanon, Pa., died last Oct. 13 in a fight over an iPod. Hess’ death by suffocation was ruled a homicide in February, but charges have not been filed. His death capped a decade of allegations and charges of sexual and physical abuse at what was the city’s only residential treatment center for troubled youth.

Washington Tells India Westinghouse Could Be Sold by Year End

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The U.S. has told India that Westinghouse Electric Co. will emerge from bankruptcy and be sold by the year end, industry and diplomatic sources have said, raising the prospect of a government-supported sale or bailout for the nuclear firm. India, like other nuclear nations, has been closely watching the fate of Japanese-owned Westinghouse, which filed for chapter 11 in March after an estimated $13 billion of cost overruns at two U.S. projects, casting a shadow over the nuclear industry. There has been debate over potential U.S. support for the reactor maker since owner Toshiba, the laptop-to-chips conglomerate, announced the blow-out at Westinghouse last year. Some form of U.S. backing or involvement, industry experts say, could avoid a Chinese or Russian buyer unpalatable to the White House, which would prefer to keep Westinghouse's advanced nuclear technology out of the hands of its foreign rivals.