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A bankruptcy court has cleared the way for Iron Range mining company Magnetation to shut down its remaining operations, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The court yesterday approved a motion to wind down the company and terminate its pellet purchase agreement with AK Steel. The company issued a statement saying that its focus is now shifting to shutting down its iron ore concentrate plant in Grand Rapids, Minn., and its pellet plant in Reynolds, Ind., to preserve their value for any potential buyers. Magnetation opened in 2008 with an innovative process for extracting iron from old mine waste. At its peak it employed more than 500 people. But it filed for bankruptcy in May 2015 amid the global steel industry slump.

Child locator technology company Filip Technologies Inc. and several affiliates filed for bankruptcy protection Wednesday in search of a buyer for a business built around the desire of parents to keep tabs on youngsters, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Filip’s wearable tech products picked up investors and won awards, but the company ran into financial trouble. Assets are worth less than $10 million, while debts top $10 million, according to documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. An affiliate of AT&T has been keeping Filip afloat and is offering to finance a bankruptcy process aimed at getting to a sale early in November. Some 13,000 U.S. families are using the Filip service, which is offered through wireless carriers. The company was forced to spend heavily on early-stage product development and was dependent on short-term funding that put it under pressure, court papers say. In 2015, Filip exited the device business and focused on trying to sell the service that connects parents and children in an effort to bring in revenue.

Warren Resources Inc. said it's closing its Houston office after the company recently emerged from bankruptcy, the Houston Business Journal reported yesterday. At the time of its bankruptcy filing, the company had $229.7 million in total assets and $545.2 million in debt, according to court documents. A bankruptcy court on Sept. 14 confirmed the Denver-based company's plan of reorganization following a chapter 11 filing June 2, according to an Oct. 5 press release. Warren Resources also plans to shut down its office in Plano, Texas, and reduce leased space in other locations. But the company said that it will maintain a small team in Denver; Long Beach, Calif; Rollins and Casper, Wyo.; and Tunkhannock, Pa. Read more.

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Arch Coal says it has emerged from chapter 11 protection and its stock will trade again on the New York Stock Exchange today, the Associated Press reported. The company, which has been hurt by weakening demand for coal, filed for bankruptcy protection nearly eight months ago to reduce its debt. Several other coal companies have filed for bankruptcy protection recently as electric power companies opt to use natural gas instead of coal, because it is cheaper and produces less pollution than coal. Arch Coal says that it now has $363 million in debt and $300 million in cash. The company continued to operate while it was under bankruptcy protection.

Almost six months after filing the biggest U.S. bankruptcy of 2016, SunEdison Inc. is taking steps to work out a reorganization plan without liquidating a prize asset: its controlling stake in TerraForm Power Inc., Bloomberg News reported today. TerraForm Power, a so-called yieldco that owns solar and wind projects developed by its parent, has begun talks with SunEdison’s creditors to start the process of evaluating the TerraForm assets. Under such a reorganization, SunEdison could keep its shares in the yieldco and restructure around it. This latest stage in the bankruptcy follows months in which SunEdison marketed solar and wind projects around the world without declaring outright whether it would emerge from chapter 11 as a going concern or liquidate altogether. The company in July said  that it had extended a deadline to present lenders with a plan — without specifying a new date. 

A U.S. judge on Wednesday halted a lawsuit against Caesars Entertainment Corp., saying that it could derail last week's $5 billion agreement that was aimed at extracting the casino company from a costly bankruptcy, Reuters reported today. While a vast majority of Caesars creditors agreed to drop some $13 billion in legal claims against the casino group last week, a hedge fund with a $9.4 million claim refused to back the deal and sought to pursue its lawsuit. Trilogy Capital Management is one of several hedge funds that had accused Caesars of scrapping a guarantee on the debt of its bankrupt subsidiary, Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. Inc. (CEOC). A judgment in New York was due as soon as today. "The risk that the Trilogy action will derail the reorganization is too great," Bankruptcy Judge Benjamin Goldgar said yesterday. CEOC has secured the support of creditors who until last week were threatening its Nasdaq-listed parent with billions of dollars in claims over a series of transactions prior to the unit's bankruptcy filing in January 2015 with $18 billion of debt.

Murphy Energy Corp., an oil and natural gas transporter with terminals in Texas and Oklahoma, filed for chapter 11 protection, with a plan to look for buyers, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Lawyers who put Tulsa, Okla.-based Murphy Energy’s operations into bankruptcy proceedings on Tuesday said the company ran low on cash after completing its Port Hudson natural gas terminal in Louisiana. The chapter 11 filing makes Murphy the latest energy company to file for bankruptcy since fuel prices plummeted. Founded in 1993, Murphy Energy owns 10 truck-to-pipeline crude oil terminals in north Texas and Oklahoma that buy crude oil from producers and transport it to customers, according to documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas. Its Louisiana operations include the Port Hudson terminal as well as Port Allen, which is under construction. Read more. (Subscription required.) 

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. 

Rock Creek Pharmaceuticals Inc. and two subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy in Delaware last week, owing nearly $3.7 million to lawyers from more than 20 firms, the American Lawyer reported today. Big firms make up half of Rock Creek’s 20 largest unsecured creditors, including legal giants like Chadbourne & Parke; Crowell & Moring; Foley & Lardner; K&L Gates; McGuireWoods; Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; and Steptoe & Johnson. The Sarasota, Fla.-based biopharmaceutical company, once known for its ties to scandal-plagued former Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell under its former name Star Scientific Inc., is being advised by Delaware’s Ciardi Ciardi & Astin in its chapter 7 case, a process that usually results in the liquidation of a debtor. John “Jack” McLaughlin Jr., a Ciardi partner advising Rock Creek, did not respond to a request for comment about his client’s outstanding legal bills.

The owner of Tex-Mex restaurant chain Don Pablo’s Mexican Kitchen filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday, blaming the downturn in the casual-dining business and increased competition from “fast-casual” Mexican brands, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Rita’s Restaurant Corp., which operates 16 Don Pablo’s and one Hops Grill and Brewery in 10 states, filed for chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Antonio. Like other casual eateries, Don Pablo’s has suffered in recent years as cash-strapped diners cut back on eating out, the chain’s bankruptcy lawyer John Mitchell said in court papers. The privately held Don Pablo’s is managed by FMP SA Management Group, an affiliate of Food Management Partners Inc., based in Hollywood Park, Texas. FMP also manages two other Texas-based restaurant chains now in bankruptcy: Buffets Restaurants, which filed for bankruptcy in March, and Zio’s Italian Kitchen, which sought chapter 11 protection last month.