%1

Logan’s Roadhouse Inc. filed for bankruptcy in Delaware after competition from rival casual-dining chains ate into its sales, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The operator and franchiser of over 250 roadhouse-themed restaurants in 23 U.S. states has suffered as other companies offered steep discounts and improved technology with tabletop tablets and order-ahead capabilities. The Nashville, Tenn.-based chain tried to attract diners with Southern-inspired cuisine such as bread pudding, brisket nachos and glazed chicken wings, as well as Happy Hour deals, but revenue still fell 9.9 percent to $131.3 million in the quarter ended Oct. 28. Logan’s has entered into a restructuring support agreement with revolving facility lenders and holders of over 83.9 percent of about $378 million in notes that will reduce debt by over $300 million, Keith Maib, chief restructuring officer, said in court papers. The agreement also includes exit financing, Maib said.

Gawker Media Group is engaged in preliminary talks with the former professional wrestler known as Hulk Hogan to reach a settlement over a $140 million invasion-of-privacy judgment that forced the digital media company into bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The talks come a week ahead of a court-administered auction that will see Gawker’s founder, Nick Denton, lose control of the company he started 14 years ago. In March, a Florida jury found Gawker and Denton guilty of invading the former wrestling champion’s privacy by publishing a video of him having sex with the wife of a radio shock jock. Gawker is appealing the decision.

U.K. yellow-pages company Hibu PLC is seeking help from a U.S. bankruptcy judge for a second time in two years, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. A Hibu affiliate, YH Ltd., filed court papers on Wednesday seeking chapter 15 protection while it works to shed some £600 million ($785 million) in debt. If the request is approved by Judge Shelley Chapman, who is overseeing the case, Hibu would be temporarily shielded from distractions like lawsuits and other forms of creditor interference in the U.S. Hibu maintains a substantial presence in the U.S. but much of its debt, issued by YH Ltd., and its corporate leadership is based in the U.K., where the company sought the equivalent of chapter 11 protection earlier this year. A hearing on its chapter 15 petition, which aims for formal U.S. recognition of the U.K. proceeding, is scheduled for Sept. 7 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.

Goodrich Petroleum Corp. received conditional approval Thursday evening of a new $40 million exit financing package, putting the oil and gas producer back on course to restructure its assets, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Bankruptcy Judge Marvin Isgur approved the financing commitment, conditioned on Goodrich reaching a deal with unsecured creditors, resolving their objections, by Friday at 5 p.m. CT. If no deal is reached, the approval will be withdrawn and Judge Isgur will hold a full hearing on the financing. The unsecured creditors’ committee had objected specifically to the fees associated with the financing, adding that the restructuring agreement Goodrich plans to put forth is both “coercive” to unsecured creditors and “too rich for other parties.” Judge Isgur said he agreed with the unsecured creditors’ position on the fees and signaled that he wouldn’t approve the financing unless the objection from unsecured creditors was resolved. Rather than address the fee issue directly, Goodrich is near a deal with unsecured creditors that involves improved treatment under Goodrich’s bankruptcy-exit plan, in exchange for the committee’s agreement to pull their objection.

The assets of Tucson, Ariz.-based artificial heart maker SynCardia Systems will go on the bankruptcy auction block Sept. 14, after the company won court approval of the auction despite the objections of creditors and a case trustee, the Arizona Daily Star reported on Saturday. Bankruptcy Judge Mary F. Walrath signed the order approving the auction on Friday, finding that SynCardia “articulated good and sufficient business reasons” to approve the auction. The judge did delay the process, after a committee of unsecured creditors and the U.S. Trustee in the chapter 11 case complained that the auction timetable was too short. SynCardia and its proposed buyer had proposed holding an auction Aug. 19 and a hearing to approve the winning bidder on Aug. 22, contending a quick sale was needed to keep SynCardia afloat. Judge Walrath ordered the auction to be conducted on Sept. 14 and the hearing to approve the sale to the highest bidder to be held on Sept. 16.

A federal judge rejected PricewaterhouseCoopers' bid to dismiss a $1 billion lawsuit accusing the accounting firm of professional malpractice for helping cause the October 2011 bankruptcy of MF Global Holdings Ltd., a brokerage once run by former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, Reuters reported on Friday. In a 69-page decision made public on Friday, U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in Manhattan said that there remained open questions concerning whether PwC's alleged bad accounting advice was a substantial cause of MF Global's rapid demise. "PwC has not satisfied its burden of demonstrating the absence of any genuine issue of material fact," Judge Marrero wrote. Corzine is not a defendant in the lawsuit, which was filed in March 2014 by MF Global's bankruptcy plan administrator. "PwC stands by its work for MF Global," James Cusick, a lawyer for the firm, said in a statement. "MF Global's collapse was caused by its own business decisions and adverse market events, not any accounting determination." The decision keeps alive one of the last remaining pieces of litigation relating to MF Global's Oct. 31, 2011 bankruptcy. PwC in April 2015 reached a $65 million cash settlement with former shareholders and bondholders, in which it denied wrongdoing. MF Global officials and bank underwriters have also settled with investors. Customers have been made whole.

Peabody Energy Corp asked a U.S. judge on Wednesday to allow it to pay up to $11.9 million in bonuses for six top executives if the global coal producer meets performance targets and emerges from chapter 11 protection, Reuters reported yesterday. The incentive package, which for the first time includes targets for cleaning up coal pits, would raise the pay for the company's chief executive officer to $3.9 million from $1 million if all targets are met. Peabody said in a filing with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in St. Louis on Wednesday that the incentives for its executive leadership team will help the company maximize the value of its estate for the benefit of all stakeholders. For Peabody, the bonuses would be distributed to Chief Executive Officer Glenn Kellow, the presidents of its Australia and Americas units and the heads of the company's finance, marketing and legal departments.

The Denver Broncos professional football team will acquire the naming rights to its Mile High Stadium from Sports Authority after the bankrupt U.S. sporting goods retailer failed to find a new sponsor for the venue, Reuters reported yesterday. The deal comes less than three weeks before the Broncos' first preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers on Aug. 20. The National Football League regular season begins Sept. 8. Sports Authority acquired the naming rights in 2011 but the chain filed for bankruptcy in March, citing, in part, debt from a buyout and loss of market shares to rivals. The retailer extensively marketed its naming rights for the stadium as part of the sale of its assets, but no cash bids came in, according to the filing. The Denver Broncos said in a statement that the name of the stadium, Sports Authority Field at Mile High, has not yet changed, and there was no timetable for securing a new naming rights agreement.

Bankrupt solar company SunEdison plans to stop making interest payments on behalf of its two yieldcos, TerraForm Global Inc. and TerraForm Power LLC, due to its chapter 11 proceedings, Reuters reported yesterday. SunEdison had agreed to pay interest on senior notes issued by TerraForm Power and TerraForm Global, the two companies said yesterday. The two yieldcos called SunEdison's decision "invalid" and said they would contest the decision, saying that announcing the decision in a filing did not mean they had acknowledged it. They said that even if SunEdison failed to make the interest payments, they would be able to continue to service their debt with current liquidity and cash flow from operations. TerraForm Global said last month that SunEdison was looking to sell its interests in the yieldco.