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General Motors Co. is fighting to get equipment and inventory from a family-owned auto parts supplier that filed for chapter 11 protection last week, saying that a contract dispute threatens to shut down 19 GM assembly plants in North American and lead to “tens of millions of dollars in losses,” the Wall Street Journal reported today. Clark-Cutler-McDermott Co., a 115-year-old interiors supplier based in Massachusetts, filed for bankruptcy on Thursday and blamed the move on an unprofitable contract with GM that has drained it of $30,000 a day since 2013. In responses filed on Friday, GM accused the supplier of using the bankruptcy process and its position as a critical parts supplier to protect personal interests rather than honor contracts. CCM, which makes interior trim components and insulation, is hoping to use bankruptcy to cut ties with GM and sell its business. However, GM claims in court papers that it has the right to certain parts of CCM’s business.

Lawyers who put Florida’s Institute for Cardiovascular Excellence into bankruptcy have asked a federal judge to approve a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department, which accused the center of charging Medicare for patients who underwent medically unnecessary procedures, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The settlement would end the dispute between Justice Department officials and the medical practice run by Asad Qamar, an Ocala, Fla., cardiologist who was among the highest-billing doctors in the government insurance program in recent years. In early 2015, Justice Department lawyers said that they had joined a whistleblower lawsuit against the doctor alleging he billed the Medicare program for inserting stents in patients that weren’t medically necessary. Dr. Qamar denies wrongdoing. Under the deal, Dr. Qamar let the government keep $5.3 million in Medicare payments for patient services that were frozen when the practice was cut from the government health insurance program in May 2015, according to documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Jacksonville, Fla. Dr. Qamar also agreed to pay $2 million once he sells his Manhattan condominium.

Caesars Entertainment Corp. and Caesars Acquisition Co. have amended their proposed merger agreement, which is intertwined with the $18 billion bankruptcy of the casino company's main operating unit, Reuters reported yesterday. The operating unit, Caesars Entertainment Operating Co Inc. (CEOC) received approval from a bankruptcy judge last month to begin seeking votes from creditors on its plan to restructure its debt and exit bankruptcy. The bankruptcy plan would slash $10 billion of debt and split the CEOC unit into a new operating company and a real estate investment trust. Caesars Entertainment is contributing billions of dollars of cash and equity to CEOC and that will help repay CEOC's creditors. Some of that cash will be generated by merging Caesars Entertainment with Caesars Acquisition. The merger was originally proposed in December 2014. Under the amended terms, Caesars Acquisition shareholders will receive 27 percent of the merged entity. Under the original proposal, they would have received 38 percent, according to regulatory filings. Caesars Acquisition owns Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas and Harrah's New Orleans, among other assets, which were acquired from the CEOC operating unit before its bankruptcy. The Caesars Entertainment parent has said those acquisitions were done at fair value to relieve the CEOC unit of capital intensive projects. CEOC's junior creditors, led by Appaloosa Management, said those deals stripped billions of dollars of the best assets from the operating unit, leaving it bankrupt.

Alvarez & Marsal, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte & Touche are pursuing a mandate to administer the bankruptcy protection process for Brazilian telecommunications group Oi SA, Reuters reported on Friday. Oi filed last month for court protection from creditors on 65.4 billion real ($19.9 billion) of bonds, bank debt and operating liabilities, Brazil's biggest filing ever of its kind. The judge in charge of the case has asked telecom watchdog Anatel to propose candidates for the role, and on Friday the regulator extended the deadline for applications to July 11. The Oi saga took another twist on Friday when a minority investor called for the replacement of most of its board, underscoring deep divisions among major shareholders that derailed recent negotiations with creditors. Alvarez & Marsal submitted a formal bid with Anatel on Friday and received confirmation from the regulator that the bid was received. The timing of the Price and Deloitte bids is unclear.

Alpha Natural Resources will emerge from bankruptcy with a plan to cover most, if not all, of its mine reclamation costs, but the payments for the cleanup could be made as late as 2025 and depend in part on the future financial performance of the restructured company in a tough economy for the business of mining and selling coal, the Washington Post reported on Saturday. Alpha, once the nation’s fourth-largest coal company, filed for bankruptcy Aug. 3, 2015, with a string of mine reclamation sites that would cost about $700 million to restore. Many environmental groups were worried that in bankruptcy, much of that liability for cleaning up old coal mines would be lifted from the shoulders of Alpha and fall instead onto U.S. taxpayers. Under the plan approved by a federal bankruptcy judge, $293 million in reclamation liabilities would be covered by at least $209 million in cash payments into a special reclamation fund over a nine-year period. Additional funds, if needed, could come from a portion of the free cash available to a newly reorganized, privately held Alpha.

India’s Essar Steel put its Minnesota iron-ore mine and processing plant into chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Friday after the state revoked its mining leases, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources on Friday moved to cancel Essar Steel Minnesota LLC’s leases to mine taconite iron ore after it missed a July 1 deadline to complete construction of the $1.9 billion plant, which broke ground in 2008. Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton said that he instructed the department to terminate the leases after months of calling on the steelmaker, part of India’s infrastructure and energy conglomerate Essar Group, to repay its contractors in full and to show that it had the ability to complete construction. According to the state department’s letter, the lease termination would take effect in 20 days. The state also intends to seek rent that Essar Steel Minnesota owes on the mining leases, according to the letter.

Troubled independent distributor Alchemy has filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Variety reported today. The move had been expected since last week when reports emerged that the company was taking steps to liquidate its assets. In its filing, the company said it has $50 million to $100 million in liabilities and $10 million to $50 million in assets. The petition also said that Alchemy has between 200 and 999 creditors.

Gawker Media can go ahead with plans for an auction after making several changes to satisfy a bankruptcy judge’s concerns that the company hadn’t adequately marketed itself and would give any buyer a windfall if it settles its legal battle with Hulk Hogan, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. “It doesn’t appear the asset was sufficiently marketed,” Bankruptcy Judge Stuart Bernstein said in court yesterday, at first denying Gawker’s planned sale procedure. Judge Bernstein also cited a provision in the plan for “liquidated damages,” which would give leading bidder Ziff Davis $13.5 million if the bankruptcy suit is dismissed. Lawyers for Ziff Davis said the unusual clause was needed in the event the deal fell apart if Gawker settled the case that drove it into bankruptcy — a $140 million judgment in a sex tape suit brought by Hogan. Following the judge’s ruling, the parties reached a new agreement on the plan that put the $13.5 million provision behind claims by Hogan and Gawker’s other unsecured creditors. The company extended the schedule for the sale prior to the hearing. The new deadline for bids is Aug. 15, the auction will be Aug. 16 and a hearing to approve the winning bid will be Aug. 18. The auction was previously scheduled for July 27.

Oil and gas producer Midstates Petroleum Corp. received a bankruptcy judge’s permission Thursday to begin polling creditors on its bankruptcy-exit plan, a plan based on a support agreement negotiated prior to the company’s bankruptcy filing, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The permission from Bankruptcy Judge David Jones came over the objection of the committee of unsecured creditors, which argued that the plan is “patently unconfirmable” and shouldn’t go to a vote. Although Judge Jones overruled the objection, he made clear that the committee could make the arguments again when he considers whether to confirm the plan. The permission yesterday approves Midstates’ disclosure statement. The oil and gas producer filed for bankruptcy in May with a plan to reduce its debt by 90 percent by handing more than 96 percent ownership of the company to junior bondholders owed $625 million, in exchange for forgiveness of that debt. That group of junior bondholders will also be entitled to as much as $60 million in cash. Lenders of its $249.2 million senior revolving facility are being paid $82 million in cash and have agreed to provide a $170 million exit facility to Midstates. Read more. (Subscription required.) 

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The U.S. government agreed to a mine clean-up deal that allows coal producer Alpha Natural Resources to exit bankruptcy, despite concerns that Alpha will be unable to fund $400 million in commitments, Reuters reported yesterday. The agreement stems from an industry subsidy that allows coal companies to self-insure the environmental costs of mining, called self-bonding, rather than set aside cash or other collateral. Alpha had about $676 million in self-bonded mine clean-up costs, mostly in Wyoming and West Virginia, when weak coal prices pushed the company into bankruptcy in August, according to securities filings. Yesterday’s agreement was meant to assure that Alpha has the finances to restore mines to their natural setting and clean up polluted streams. The Department of Interior said in a statement that the deal will eliminate self-bonds for Alpha’s reclamation obligations and shift toward third-party financial assurance. Alpha will contribute to the plan over a decade and government lawyer Alan Tenebaum acknowledged that "the environmental agencies have some concern if this plan will succeed in the long term." Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Huennekens yesterday agreed to confirm Alpha’s chapter 11 plan of reorganization.