Skip to main content

%1

Alliance Medical Holdings Files for Bankruptcy

Submitted by jhartgen@abi.org on

Alliance Medical Holdings LLC filed for bankruptcy protection after a criminal investigation into its operations spooked its lender, which threatened to cut off money for the company’s nearly 800 workers, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Lawyers who put the Utah firm into chapter 11 protection said yesterday that federal investigators raided its headquarters in suburban Salt Lake City and have already taken $1.2 million from a bank account. The company, which took in $160 million in revenue last year, uses an online resource center and a network of 20 pharmacies across the country to help people who have diabetes and other chronic health conditions. Alliance Medical officials don’t know the basis for the investigation but said that the company is operating in a lawful manner, its lawyer told Judge Marvin Isgur yesterday during a hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston. Alliance Medical officials have negotiated a deal with federal officials that enables the company to remain open during the investigation.

SF Yellow Cab Sold to Competitor for $810,000

Submitted by jhartgen@abi.org on

San Francisco’s largest cab company, Yellow Cab Co-Op, was sold to a rival cab company Friday for $810,000, the San Francisco Examiner reported today. The purchase by Big Dog City Corp., which runs CityWide Taxi, came after a heated bout of bidding with Cabtopia, a taxi operator from Minneapolis, Minn. “This was a good sale price for the company,” said Sam Singer, a spokesman-at-large working for Yellow Cab’s bankruptcy trustee, Randy Sugarman. Yellow Cab’s assets totaled $8 million, and its liabilities totaled $26 million, according to its bankruptcy filings, and CityWide will assume those assets. Yellow Cab first declared bankruptcy in January 2016.

Sanford Capital Affiliate Accused of Using Bankruptcy to Avoid Enforcement

Submitted by jhartgen@abi.org on

D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine has accused embattled affordable housing landlord Sanford Capital of using bankruptcy protection to avoid making critical repairs to one of its rental properties in Southeast D.C., the Washington Business Journal reported on Friday. Racine's office filed a motion with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the District on Thursday seeking to dismiss the chapter 11 bankruptcy Sanford's Terrace Manor LLC filed a week earlier. The attorney general's office claimed Sanford Capital and its affiliate "strategically filed for bankruptcy to further evade its obligations as a landlord to provide safe and habitable housing to tenants."

Ciber Files for Chapter 11

Submitted by jhartgen@abi.org on

Information technology company Ciber Inc. said today that it and some of its U.S. units filed for chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Reuters reported. Capgemini agreed to act as the stalking-horse bidder to buy the North American operations of Ciber for $50 million, which excludes the company's international operations and some liabilities. The company listed assets in the range of $50 million to $100 million and liabilities in a similar range, according to the filing. Ciber has received a commitment for up to $45 million in debtor-in-possession financing, which will be used to maintain its U.S. operations during the chapter 11 process.

Court Approves Bonanza Creek Energy Reorganization Plan

Submitted by jhartgen@abi.org on

Bonanza Creek Energy said on Friday that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware approved its restructuring plan, allowing it to exit from bankruptcy protection by the end of the month, the Denver Post reported. The Denver-based oil and gas producer reached an agreement with a majority of its creditors and filed for bankruptcy right before Christmas last year. But a group of dissenting shareholders cried foul, and Bonanza Creek had to go back and craft a deal to win them over. The dissenting shareholders will be allowed to contribute $7.5 million within a $200 million rights offering, giving them a 1.75 percent stake in the company. Bonanza Creek also agree to pay up to $3 million in shareholder legal fees related to their protest. The original plan, which the company said has unanimous support from unsecured creditors, converts $867 million in unsecured debt into equity and eliminates $50 million in annual interest payments. It also provides for $200 million in fresh capital to the company, whose operations are concentrated in the Wattenberg Field northeast of Denver, and in southeastern Arkansas. Read more

The featured keynote at ABI's 2017 Annual Spring Meeting will be Spencer Abraham, former U.S. Senator and former U.S. Secretary of Energy. Additionally, a panel at the Annual Spring Meeting will be discussing legal and business developments in E&P cases. Click here to register! 

Get a better understanding of what happens when an oil, gas or other natural resources company goes bankrupt. Order your copy of ABI's revised and expanded When Gushers Go Dry: The Essentials of Oil & Gas Bankruptcy, Second Edition

U.S., Japan in Talks to Prevent China Acquiring Westinghouse

Submitted by jhartgen@abi.org on

The Trump administration and the Japanese government are in discussions to ensure that the bankruptcy of Toshiba Corp.’s U.S. unit Westinghouse Electric Co does not lead to U.S. technology secrets and infrastructure falling into Chinese hands, a U.S. official said yesterday, Reuters reported. Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy last month hit by billions of dollars of cost overruns at four nuclear reactors under construction in the U.S. Southeast. The bankruptcy is likely to lead to the eventual sale of Westinghouse's nuclear business and Chinese interests have been seen as possible buyers. "It's a real concern; they've wanted to get their hands on power grid and nuclear infrastructure for a long time," an official in the U.S. administration told Reuters as China's President Xi Jinping arrived in the United States on Thursday for a first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that conversations were going on between the U.S. and Japanese governments "on ways to mitigate a potential sale."

Trump Team Takes Steps to Keep Chinese From Westinghouse

Submitted by jhartgen@abi.org on

The Trump administration is so alarmed that Chinese investors may try to purchase Westinghouse Electric Co.’s nuclear business that U.S. officials are trying to find an American or allied buyer for the company instead, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Cabinet members including Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have discussed preventing Westinghouse’s purchase by a Chinese-linked company, three U.S. officials said. Westinghouse filed for chapter 11 protection on March 29 and its parent company Toshiba Corp. is seeking a buyer for its money-losing reactor business. Administration officials so far have examined three potential courses to keep Westinghouse out of Chinese hands. The government might block a sale to a Chinese buyer; encourage an alternative bid from U.S. or friendly foreign investors; or the government might invest in the company directly in return for an equity stake, akin to the Obama administration bailout of U.S. automakers.

San Antonio Brewer Files for Bankruptcy

Submitted by jhartgen@abi.org on

San Antonio’s Branchline Brewing Co. has filed for bankruptcy protection after about four years of operation, the San Antonio Express-News reported. The small brewer reported assets of less than $50,000 and liabilities ranging from $100,001 to $500,000 in a bare bones bankruptcy petition filed yesterday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Antonio. The filing comes a little more than a month after Branchline posted a notice on Facebook that it was “going through a restructure period” and closing its tap room on March 4.

Toshiba's Westinghouse Fired Chairman Two Days Before Bankruptcy Filing

Submitted by jhartgen@abi.org on
Westinghouse Electric Co LLC fired its chairman two days before the U.S. nuclear engineering unit of Toshiba Corp. filed for bankruptcy last week, as the Japanese firm tries to draw a line under the travails of a business that has cost it billions, Reuters reported today. Toshiba's spokesman said that Westinghouse chairman Danny Roderick was replaced by Mamoru Hatazawa, chief of Toshiba's nuclear division, on March 27, two days before the chapter 11 filing. Hatazawa's role would be temporary, he added. Roderick, described by industry and company insiders as more salesman than engineer, was the driving force behind Toshiba's nuclear ambitions. Toshiba said that the executive change, only the second reported at the senior level since the Westinghouse crisis began to unfold in December, was intended to reassure clients in advance of the bankruptcy filing. It declined to say whether Roderick remained with Westinghouse.
 

Payless Files For Bankruptcy, Will Close 400 Stores

Submitted by jhartgen@abi.org on

Payless ShoeSource filed for chapter 11 protection yesterday, saying that it needed to shore up its balance sheet in order to position itself for long-term survival in an increasingly tough retail landscape, Forbes.com reported. "This is a difficult, but necessary, decision driven by the continued challenges of the retail environment, which will only intensify," said Payless' CEO W. Paul Jones in a statement. Payless plans to immediately close 400 stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico and will also "aggressively manage" the rest of its real estate portfolio. That will mean closing additional stores and seeking to modify existing lease terms. The retailer currently has 4,400 stores in more than 30 countries.