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Florida will only get back a small portion of the millions it invested in a failed visual effects film studio whose high-profile bankruptcy was used in the contentious 2014 election between Gov. Rick Scott and Charlie Crist, the Associated Press reported yesterday. State and local governments in April reached a settlement in a complicated legal battle that involved filings in bankruptcy court as a well as a civil lawsuit filed in St. Lucie County. A bankruptcy judge approved the settlement earlier this month and the payments are expected to be made over the summer. The state in 2009 agreed to invest $20 million with Digital Domain, which had promised to create about 500 jobs at a Port St. Lucie animation studio and a West Palm Beach film school. But the company filed for bankruptcy in 2012. Florida sued Digital Domain at the direction of Scott, whose re-election campaign mentioned the lawsuit in a TV ad critical of Crist since the former governor had signed off on the initial deal to help the company. Under the settlement, Florida will receive an estimated $5 million, but only about $3 million is expected go back to taxpayers.

Irving-based HCA North Texas, one of the region’s largest health care providers, has agreed to buy Forest Park Medical Center in Dallas for $135 million in a deal set to close in mid to late June, the Dallas Business Journal reported today. HCA’s purchase of the now-closed hospital is subject to certain closing conditions, including court approval of the sale and other regulatory approvals. HCA’s nearby Medical City Dallas Hospital continues to expand clinical services for both adults and children, said Erol Akdamar, HCA North Texas Division president. The former Forest Park facility may operate under the Medical City Dallas license. Read more. 

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Under Armour Inc. cut its sales outlook for the year, citing the bankruptcy of Sports Authority, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Given the recent approval of Sports Authority’s liquidation, as opposed to a restructuring or sale of the continuing business, Under Armour said that it would realize only about a quarter of the revenue it had planned to receive from Sports Authority. In addition, the company said it would take a $23 million impairment charge in its current quarter. Under Armour Chief Executive Kevin Plank noted that the company still has strong brand momentum and pointed out that Sports Authority’s bankruptcy is a one-time event. Read more. (Subscription required.) 

In related news, the owner of the NFL’s Denver Broncos is seeking to end its stadium-sponsorship agreement with Sports Authority Holdings Inc., the Wall Street Journal reported today. The team’s request to scrap the deal comes after the bankrupt retailer skipped two payments this year and made an unauthorized attempt to sell the stadium naming rights in bankruptcy court. The Broncos claim Sports Authority owes them roughly $2.1 million for 2016. Read more. (Subscription required.) 

Specialty chemical manufacturer Vertellus Specialties Inc. placed its U.S. operations under chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday and said that its term loan lenders agreed to open the bidding at an auction for most of its business, Dow Jones Newswires reported. A court-supervised sale is the "most efficient means of creating a sustainable financial structure for our company," President and Chief Executive Richard Preziotti said in a release. The bankruptcy filing followed downgrades from ratings firms and a missed payment. Moody's cut Vertellus's credit rating in February, citing "significant earnings deterioration" in its agricultural section as well as a growing risk of environmental liabilities and increased competition from China. Vertellus has lined up $110 million in financing to maintain operations as usual while it goes through the sale process. The money is coming from existing lenders including Black Diamond Capital Management, BlackRock, BlueBay Asset Management, Brightwood Capital Advisors and TPG Special Situations Partners.

Great Pacific Seafoods, a Seattle company with three processing plants in Alaska, has ceased operations and will liquidate under chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code, the Seattle Times reported yesterday. Bankruptcy papers filed on Sunday show Great Pacific’s revenues fell from $26.5 million in 2014 to $21.2 million last year. The filing lists assets of $12.4 million and liabilities of $12.3 million. The company’s statement attributed its financial difficulties to “a significant drop in the price of roe due to the Russian embargo and the combination of the Japanese yen’s valuation and Japanese demand.”

A bankruptcy judge on Friday delivered a defeat to Netflix Inc., which has fought for the right to release two films produced by Relativity Media LLC on its streaming platform ahead of their expected theatrical release, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Wiles issued an order forbidding Netflix to release the films, saying a premature debut of the movies could prove “devastating” for the Hollywood studio that he released from chapter 11 earlier this year. Relativity’s fragile reorganization plan is dependent upon the theatrical release of its most anticipated films: “Masterminds,” a comedy starring Zach Galifianakis and Kristen Wiig, and “The Disappointments Room,” a horror film starring Kate Beckinsale. “It is my responsibility to ensure the plan I approved is carried out,” the judge said in court Friday. Allowing Netflix to proceed “would threaten the bankruptcy process…with devastating consequences to the plan and distributions” to creditors.

Emerald Oil Inc. snagged a $73 million bid from affiliates of institutional investor Crestline Management LP and private-equity firm Sole Source Capital LLC, setting the floor ahead of a July auction, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Court papers show the company is asking Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross to sign off on the stalking horse, or lead, bidder so it can move forward with its sale timeline. If that timeline is approved, other bids for Emerald would be due by July 6. If needed, an auction would be held July 11. A hearing to approve the sale would take place on July 14. Emerald said in court papers that the sale of all of its oil and gas assets, including leases and mineral contracts mainly in North Dakota, will reap the best recovery for the company’s creditors. Court papers show that since filing for bankruptcy, Emerald heard from nine interested bidders, and by the end of the process received four bids before selecting Sole Source and Crestline as the lead bidder. Read more. (Subscription required.) 

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Hercules Offshore Inc. said that it planned to file for prepackaged chapter 11 protection, just six months after the rig contractor emerged from bankruptcy protection, Reuters reported on Friday. The company said that it had entered into a restructuring support agreement with some lenders, which will eventually allow it to place all its unsold assets into a wind-down vehicle until they can be sold. Hercules Offshore said that its international units would not be included in the bankruptcy filing, but would be a part of the sale process. Hercules first filed for chapter 11 protection in August 2015 and emerged from bankruptcy in November. Read more. 

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A bankruptcy judge ordered the Roman Catholic Diocese of Duluth, Minn., and lawyers for more than 100 clergy sexual abuse victims to a three-day mediation session in July, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Court papers filed this week show that Bankruptcy Judge Gregg Zive will serve as the mediator at a conference slated to begin July 19, at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Minneapolis. The Diocese of Duluth, which is home to more than 55,000 parishioners, filed for bankruptcy in December after a jury awarded more than $8 million to a man who said he was sexually abused in the late 1970s by a priest working in the diocese. The diocese has said that it knew nothing about the abuse and couldn’t have prevented it. At the time it sought chapter 11 protection, the diocese faced about 18 individual abuse claims, but the number has since grown to about 110 as of Monday, according to court records. Victims’ lawyers have said that they expected more claims to come in before the deadline ran out on Wednesday. Read more. (Subscription required.) 

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The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis unveiled a bankruptcy-reorganization plan on Thursday that sets aside at least $65 million to help compensate hundreds of clergy sexual-abuse victims, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The plan was filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Minneapolis after negotiations with victims’ lawyers and the archdiocese’s insurance companies failed to produce a consensual resolution to the bankruptcy. In what is known as a “cramdown” in bankruptcy parlance, the archdiocese has asked Judge Robert Kressel, the judge overseeing the chapter 11 case, to approve the plan over victims’ objections. Victims say that the archdiocese’s actual contribution to the plan, about $13.1 million, amounts to only a small fraction of the value of the archdiocese’s total assets. The plan is largely funded by settlements with the archdiocese’s insurers. Another significant slice of the funding, about $13.7 million, is being provided by parishes’ insurance companies. About $8.7 million is coming from the sale of the archbishop’s residence and several other properties earlier this year.