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NextEra Energy Inc. agreed to buy Energy Future Holdings Corp.'s stake in Oncor, in a deal that values the electricity transmissions business at $18.4 billion, Dow Jones Newswires reported on Friday. The transaction will be a crucial element in getting Energy Future — the former TXU Corp. — out of chapter 11 bankruptcy, which began in April 2014. Meanwhile, the deal for Oncor makes NextEra, of Florida, a major player in the Texas electricity market. The deal includes the equity of the reorganized holding company Energy Future and certain of its subsidiaries as well as the majority stake in Oncor. NextEra began the competition for Oncor two years ago, when Energy Future's case was bogged down in court fights. Investors spotted the hidden value in the transmissions business, which was operating free and clear of Energy Future's financial troubles, and was originally slated to be handed over to certain creditors in satisfaction of their debt. The NextEra deal must go before the Public Utility Commission of Texas for approval, but it doesn't include the component that scuttled the Hunt takeover, which was a proposal to convert Oncor into a real-estate investment trust structure. The deal also must be approved by a bankruptcy judge as part of Energy Future's plan to exit bankruptcy.

U.S. teen retailer Aeropostale Inc. plans to challenge in court private equity firm Sycamore Partners' claims as a creditor in its bankruptcy, Reuters reported yesterday. The fight between Aeropostale and Sycamore stands out from other bankruptcy cases of U.S. teen retailers, because very few of them triggered litigation. It could also complicate any effort by Sycamore to take over the retailer. The lawsuit, expected to be filed today, would follow an investigation by Aeropostale over the past several weeks into whether Sycamore drove the company into bankruptcy, in part by making the terms of its debt investment in the company in 2014 deliberately onerous. Sycamore affiliates loaned Aeropostale $150 million in 2014, and, as part of the deal, required that the chain make merchandise purchases from one of Sycamore's companies, MGF Sourcing. Aeropostale has said that MGF imposed new, burdensome terms on the retailer that precipitated its bankruptcy.

Jon Corzine has reached a settlement with the trustee for the former New Jersey governor's collapsed brokerage MF Global Holdings Ltd, as part of a series of accords expected to provide about $132 million to creditors, Reuters reported yesterday. The trustee, Nader Tavakoli, on Wednesday asked a U.S. bankruptcy judge to approve payments being made on behalf of Corzine and several other defendants, including MF Global's former Chief Operating Officer Bradley Abelow and former Chief Financial Officer Henri Steenkamp. Insurers will make payments on behalf of the defendants, who did not admit wrongdoing, the court papers show. The accord does not resolve the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's civil lawsuit against Corzine and Edith O'Brien, a former MF Global assistant treasurer, but provides a reserve to help fund their defenses.

Criminal prosecutors in Minnesota won a rare admission of wrongdoing from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, which conceded it protected a priest who was later convicted of sexually abusing children, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The deal announced yesterday resolves criminal charges against the archdiocese alleging it failed to take actions to safeguard children well after U.S. bishops instituted a new, strict abuse policy in 2002. As part of the deal, the archdiocese acknowledged that it failed to adequately respond to and prevent the abuse of three children, and that it put its own interests and the interests of an abusive priest, Curtis Wehmeyer, ahead of the safety of those children. It is unclear how yesterday’s admission will affect the Twin Cities archdiocese, but legal experts say that for dioceses in bankruptcy in general, admitted criminal activity can complicate potential insurance recovery because intentional or criminal actions are typically excluded by insurance policies.

A judge has allowed Peabody Energy to pay nearly $30 million in property taxes in four states while the coal company goes through bankruptcy reorganization, the Casper (Wyo.) Star Tribune reported today. The decision yesterday in federal court in St. Louis should end uncertainty for a Colorado school district that began when Peabody missed a property tax payment in June. The state of Colorado has fronted the South Routt School District some $1 million in state funding because of the crisis. In Campbell County, Wyo., Peabody has three open-pit mines and owes about $1.8 million in property and land taxes for 2015. About 54 percent of that goes to the Campbell County School District.

C&J Energy Services Ltd. filed for chapter 11 protection yesterday with an agreement with its lenders to swap $1.4 billion in debt for ownership of the reorganized company, Reuters reported. Hamilton, Bermuda-based C&J drills wells and provides related services, and the filing comes four months after founder and Chief Executive Officer Josh Comstock died unexpectedly at age 46. C&J joins more than 100 energy producers and service companies that have filed for bankruptcy in the past two years after a debt-funded boom turned to bust when oil prices collapsed. The company filed for bankruptcy in Houston to implement an agreement reached with lenders who hold 83 percent of its credit facility debt, according to a company statement. Under a previously disclosed plan, lenders will receive all the stock in a reorganized C&J, subject to dilution for management incentive awards. Read more. 

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Flying Star is seeking court approval to end a two-year-old legal battle with two former executives by settling for $375,000 now and not fighting another $611,523 in claims the two can pursue against the restaurant company in its ongoing bankruptcy case, the Albuquerque (N.M.) Journal reported today. Flying Star’s former COO, Clyde Harrington, and former CFO, Donna Schmidt, were already in arbitration with Flying Star and its owners, Jean and Mark Bernstein, when the Albuquerque cafe chain filed for chapter 11 protection in January 2015, and the parties’ legal wranglings have been an ongoing part of the larger bankruptcy case. Harrington and Schmidt had sued Jean Bernstein in 2014 in a contractual dispute following their terminations. They alleged that the restaurant chain had “falsely (cited) cause as the basis” of their firings, depriving them of their employment and allowing the company to deny payment of their stock options worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The original filing did not specify the amount sought in damages, but the duo later filed claims in the bankruptcy case totaling between $5.8 million and $7.3 million, according to court records.

Terraform Global Inc. said that bankrupt solar company SunEdison Inc. is looking to sell its interest in the "yieldco,” Reuters reported yesterday. The two companies are in "active discussions" for a joint sale process of the stake, Terraform Global said in a regulatory filing. Terraform Global also said its annual filing for 2015 may include a "going concern" note due to risks related to SunEdison bankruptcy, but said it had sufficient liquidity to support ongoing operations. SunEdison's two publicly traded subsidiaries, TerraForm Global and TerraForm Power Inc, were not part of the bankruptcy filing.

Gawker Media LLC founder and Chief Executive Nick Denton appears to be headed for bankruptcy after a federal judge declined to shield him from a legal battle with former wrestler Hulk Hogan and his billionaire backer, MarketWatch.com reported yesterday. During a hearing in Manhattan, Bankruptcy Judge Stuart Bernstein denied Gawker’s request to extend chapter 11’s litigation shield to its founder, who isn’t currently in bankruptcy. “I expect my personal bankruptcy will be anything but straightforward,” Denton said in court Tuesday, adding that he expects the onslaught of litigation to continue “to be as aggressive as it possibly could.” The ruling is a blow to Denton, who says he can’t pay his share of a $140 million invasion-of-privacy judgment handed down earlier this year in favor of Terry Bollea, the wrestler’s real name. The judgment, which is being appealed, led Gawker to file for chapter 11 protection last month.

Sports Authority is scrambling to close the doors on most or all of its stores by the end of the month, according to multiple store employees and managers, an abrupt move that comes amid a fight over cash between lenders and suppliers, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Managers have been instructed on procedures for wiping the computers, locking up and walking away, as the dying athletic gear seller prepares for the final stage of its bankruptcy. A lawyer and officials of the Englewood, Colo., company didn’t respond to requests to discuss the accelerated shutdown plan, including questions about whether any stores would survive into August. In a May 25 letter to customers, Chief Executive Michael Foss said that the stores would be closed by the end of August. The end could be nearer than that for most Sports Authority stores, said store managers who were summoned to a conference call last week. Sports Authority and the nearly 14,000 jobs it once supported is essentially done at the end of July, they were told.