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Bankruptcy Judge Benjamin Goldgar said at a hearing yesterday that billionaire investors Marc Rowan and David Bonderman are among Caesars Entertainment Corp. directors who must disclose details of their wealth to creditors of the casino holding company's bankrupt subsidiary, Reuters reported. Junior creditors of Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. Inc. (CEOC) convinced the court yesterday to force six of the parent's directors to prove they can contribute to CEOC's reorganization plan in exchange for releases from allegations of fraud. CEOC filed an $18 billion bankruptcy in January 2015. Junior creditors accuse directors of Caesars and its private equity sponsors Apollo Global Management LLC and TPG Capital of orchestrating a plan to strip CEOC of "crown jewels," such as the Linq Hotel & Casino complex in Las Vegas, prior to its bankruptcy.

Denver-based Battalion Resources LLC has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing liabilities of about $83.4 million, the Denver Business Journal reported today. Associated with Battalion’s voluntary bankruptcy petition, filed Sept. 8, are the chapter 11 bankruptcies of three Storm Cat Energy subsidiaries. Battalion said in its petition to the court that its principal assets were in Sheridan and Campbell counties in Wyoming, and said its total assets had a value of $3.5 million. It listed total liabilities at $83.4 million, of which $39.9 million was owed to secured creditors, according to the petition. Battalion also said in court filings it had sold “substantially all” of its assets to Powder River Holdings as of Aug. 2. The company indicated in its petition that after administrative expenses are paid, there won’t be any money left to repay unsecured creditors. It estimated that its creditors numbered between 1,000 and 5,000. Read more. 

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Houston-based NRG Energy Inc has won the auction for bankrupt renewable power plant developer SunEdison Inc.’s wind and solar projects in Texas and other states with a $144 million bid, Reuters reported yesterday. The sale is one of several that SunEdison, once the fastest-growing U.S. renewable energy company, is holding since filing for chapter 11 protection in April after an unsuccessful debt-backed acquisition drive. Bankruptcy Judge Stuart Bernstein will hold a hearing to approve the NRG bid on Thursday, a court filing by SunEdison showed last week.

U.S. coal miner Arch Coal has agreed to set aside collateral to cover future mine cleanup costs as part of its bankruptcy reorganization plan, according to a court filing, ending its controversial use of "self-bonds,” Reuters reported yesterday. For decades the largest U.S. coal companies have used a federal subsidy known as "self-bonding," which exempts companies from posting bonds or other securities to cover the cost of returning mined land to its natural state, as required by law. Arch had $485.5 million in self-bonds in Wyoming when it filed for bankruptcy protection in January, saddled with $6 billion of debt and a deep slump in the coal sector. Under a reorganization plan set for a confirmation trial today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in St. Louis, Arch must replace all of its self-bonds within 15 days of its bankruptcy exit plan becoming effective, a court filing by the company showed on Sunday.

Teen clothing retailer Aeropostale Inc. won court permission to sell its assets to buyers led by Simon Property Group Inc. and General Growth Properties Inc. after the landlords banded together with liquidators to save jobs and stores — a novel approach that lawyers said could be a model for distressed retailers, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The group prevailed at a Sept. 2 auction with a $243 million bid and a plan to keep open at least 229 stores. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane approved the sale yesterday after being told by the retailer’s lawyers that the arrangement would save at least 7,000 jobs. “This could be a model for future restructurings in the years ahead,” Ray Schrock, a lawyer for Aeropostale, told Lane. Read more. 

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Moody’s Investors Service said that U.S. oil bankruptcies haven’t been this “catastrophic” for lenders in a long time, in what may be the worst bust of any industry this century, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Creditors are recovering an average 21 percent of what they lent, compared with about 59 percent in past decades, the credit-rating agency said yesterday in a report that looks into lending to 15 exploration and production companies that filed for bankruptcy protection in 2015. That may be on par with, or worse than, the telecommunications industry collapse in 2001 and 2002, the study led by David Keisman said. High-yield bonds recovered a mere 6 percent, compared to 30 percent in previous years going back to 1987. Defaults in the oil and natural gas industry have been rising through a market slump that has exceeded two years as companies lacked the cash to make interest payments on their debt. Bankruptcies among U.S. producers so far this year are about twice the number among companies rated by Moody’s in all of 2015, the report said. The oil and gas figures have helped propel U.S. corporate defaults to the highest since 2009. Read more. 

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. 

Vertellus Specialties Inc., a global manufacturer of fine and specialty chemicals, announced that a bankruptcy court has approved the sale of substantially all of Vertellus' assets to the company's existing term loan lenders, the ABL Advisor reported on Friday. The Court's decision follows the successful resolution of all remaining objections raised by the company's creditors, environmental regulators and other business partners to allow for a consensual asset sale. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of September.

The judge overseeing Aubrey McClendon's estate approved a land deal on Friday that will pay off one of the late energy magnate's major creditors, paving the way for the sale of his stake in professional basketball team the Oklahoma City Thunder, Reuters reported. In probate court in Oklahoma City, Judge Richard Kirby approved Jones Energy Inc.'s plan to purchase 18,000 acres of oil and gas leasehold interests for $136.5 million from the estate. The proceeds from the sale will repay private equity firm Oaktree Capital Group LLC, to whom McClendon owes $85 million, court records show. Once the sale closes, Oaktree will release its claim on the cash distributions McClendon was entitled to receive from his approximately 20 percent stake in the Thunder. Lenders to McClendon have claimed in court that the oilman, who co-founded Chesapeake Energy Corp, left behind more debt than his assets could repay as oil prices cratered, an assertion that McClendon's attorneys have disputed.

The mediator trying to resolve the $18 billion bankruptcy of Caesars Entertainment Operating Co Inc. (CEOC) abruptly stepped down on Friday, Reuters reported. CEOC filed for bankruptcy in January 2015 amid creditor accusations that its parent Caesars Entertainment Corp. and private equity sponsors Apollo Global Management LLC and TPG Capital had stripped it of its best assets. Retired U.S. Judge Joseph Farnan was tasked in March to help the feuding parties reach a settlement and lift CEOC out of bankruptcy. "I'm convinced that I can't continue and possibly a new mediator will be able to establish a workable process," Farnan said in a letter published in a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy court in Chicago. It was not immediately clear who, if anyone, would take over his role. Read more. 

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Hanjin Shipping Co. won court protection for its ships bound for the U.S., allowing the company to unload four vessels without fear of having them seized by creditors, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. Bankruptcy Judge John K. Sherwood on Friday granted the Seoul-based company protection under chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code. Judge Sherwood had given the company provisional protection on Sept. 6. His ruling Friday broadened that legal shield and extended its length. The decision by the court in Newark, New Jersey, will allow goods on at least four ships to come into port in the U.S. Worldwide, an estimated $14 billion worth of goods has been stuck on Hanjin ships, which ferry goods for companies including Nike Inc. and Hugo Boss AG.