%1

A group of U.S. creditors appealed a court order allowing Hanjin Shipping Co. to sell one of its key remaining assets and to send the proceeds to South Korea, likely beyond the U.S. creditors’ reach, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The creditors, a group of shipping container and trucking chassis providers, on Tuesday filed papers asking the U.S. District Court in New Jersey to revisit a bankruptcy judge’s decision to approve the $78 million sale of Hanjin’s stake in a Long Beach, Calif., container terminal operator. Last month, the creditors lost a bid to keep the sale proceeds in the U.S. The proceeds will instead be administered by a court in South Korea, where the U.S. creditors say their rights and prospects of being repaid will be diminished. The appeal comes as a court in South Korea, where Hanjin’s assets and bankruptcy proceedings have been largely consolidated, has moved to end any efforts to help get the company back on its feet, opting instead for a total liquidation. A final ruling from the South Korean court regarding Hanjin’s fate is slated for Feb. 17.

The abrupt closure and bankruptcy filing by a U.S. adoption agency has stunned hundreds of hopeful clients left struggling with the emotional impact and likely loss of thousands of dollars, Reuters reported yesterday. The non-profit Independent Adoption Center of Concord, Calif., closed on Jan. 31 and filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy on Feb. 3. Clients said as many as 800 families may be affected, although the agency has not provided figures. In a statement, the agency blamed fewer potential birth parents than at any point in its 35-year history. Independent Adoption Center's board president, Gregory Kuhl, acknowledged in court papers the hard feelings sparked by the agency's closure, and said families and birth mothers are getting potential referrals.

Stemtech International, a formerly high-flying Pembroke Pines, Fla.-based dietary supplement maker, has filed for chapter 11 protection as it battles a former supplier and seeks Supreme Court review of a $1.6 million judgment from a 2008 copyright infringement case, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. The multilevel marketing company says on its website that its products help stem cells grow and circulate in the body, maintaining and repairing organs and tissues and “providing you with an unmatched level of wellness, both inside and out.” Stemtech submitted the filing on Feb. 2 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Fort Lauderdale. The company remains in operation and has not laid off any of its employees, bankruptcy attorney Michael Seese said yesterday.

United Road Towing Inc., the nation’s largest towing company, has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, along with more than two dozen affiliates, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. United Road is going up for sale in bankruptcy, with an auction planned before the end of March. Owned mostly by Medley Capital Corp. and Milestone Partners II LP, United Road said its decision to file for bankruptcy was driven largely by nonfinancial reasons, including a lawsuit involving the competition rights of former executives and a class-action case from people whose cars were towed without their consent. Diving prices for scrap metal and lack of capital for marketing and equipment purchases also contributed to the decision, court papers say. United Road lost the class action when it went to trial in 2015, and the company filed for bankruptcy protection just as the $5 million judgment was scheduled to become final. The chapter 11 filing will halt efforts to collect the judgment.

Opponents of Peabody Energy Corp's reorganization plan have filed an emergency appeal against a key piece of the coal producer's proposal they say violates U.S. bankruptcy law by prematurely requiring creditors to promise to support it, Reuters reported yesterday. At the heart of creditors' complaints are the terms of a $1.5 billion private recapitalization that Peabody has proposed as part of a plan to slash $5 billion of debt and exit chapter 11 protection. The plan by the world's largest private-sector coal company could provide lucrative returns for early subscribers. In order to sign up for the private offering, creditors had to support Peabody's broader reorganization plan, a complex and lengthy document, within days of its publication on Dec. 22 and almost a month before it went to bankruptcy court for approval. Bankruptcy Judge Barry Schermer approved the plan on Jan. 26, overruling objections from a range of parties and opening the door for Peabody to officially begin seeking creditor votes. In a filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on Friday, an ad hoc committee of dissenting creditors said Peabody "improperly" forced the majority of creditors to commit their votes in favor of the plan well before it received court approval.

Eastern Outfitters LLC, the parent of discount chain Bob's Stores and outdoor retailer Eastern Mountain Sports, filed for bankruptcy protection on Sunday, the latest U.S. retailer to do so amid increased competitive pressure facing the sector, Reuters reported today. British sportswear retailer Sports Direct International Plc. has engaged in extensive talks with Eastern Outfitters to become a stalking-horse bidder in a bankruptcy auction, the chapter 11 filing showed. Eastern Outfitters listed assets and liabilities in the range of $100 million to $500 million, according to court documents filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Eastern Outfitters is owned by private equity firm Versa Capital Management LLC, which acquired Bob's and Eastern Mountain Sports through the bankruptcy last year of Vestis Retail Group LLC, the previous owner of the store chains. Versa said at the time that Eastern Outfitters had more than $400 million in annual revenue.

Coal-mining companies shut out of the capital markets last year may soon see a reversal of fortunes, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Peabody Energy Corp., which is making its way through chapter 11, and Blackhawk Mining LLC, a smaller, privately held coal miner, tapped the high-yield loan and bond markets this week aiming to raise more than $2 billion in total debt. Two other mining companies that have recently gone through restructurings are looking to seize the opportunity to refinance. Encouraging the companies’ hopes of fresh financing is improved pricing for coal after several years of falling demand, as well as President Donald Trump’s campaign pledges to stand behind coal miners and roll back environmental regulations. The U.S.-based coal companies’ ability to tap the debt markets is a major turnaround from last year, when investors shunned coal issuers. The dramatic rally in coal prices, particularly metallurgical coal used for steel making, has fueled demand for coal companies’ debt. Prices for export-oriented coal used in smelting tripled in the second half of 2016 to $300 a metric ton. Although prices have since fallen to $200 a ton, they remain double what they were a year ago.

CBS Sports Digital said it has signed a definitive deal to acquire the assets of Scout Media, the bankrupt sports-video site that runs team-specific sites for pro and college teams in major sports, the <em>NY Poste</em> reported today. Terms were not disclosed, but CBS previously submitted a $9.5 million stalking-horse bid for the sports-video site. Three creditors had filed suit in November, trying to force the cash-strapped company into bankruptcy. In July, it was hit by high-level turnover in the executive suite and a defection of many of its senior producers. That, in turn, appeared to hurt its traffic numbers for the rest of 2016. A team of Russian investors had appeared in 2015 when earlier backers balked at putting in additional funds. Co-founder James Heckman was forced out in July amid claims of financial impropriety — claims which Heckman denied.