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A Tulsa-based firm that has been actively investing in Texas oil and gas fields has agreed to pay $245 million to buy the U.S. assets of Quicksilver Resources, a Fort Worth energy company that became one of the more prominent companies in the Barnett Shale before falling into bankruptcy last year, the Dallas Morning News reported today. BlueStone Natural Resources II emerged as the buyer from a bankruptcy auction last week. BlueStone’s purchase is being backed by Natural Gas Partners, a private-equity firm in Irving that was founded by the late Fort Worth financier Richard Rainwater. Quicksilver announced the sale to its employees on Friday and filed documents in bankruptcy court early Saturday. Quicksilver is selling its assets to help pay off more than $2.35 billion in debt. When Quicksilver filed for bankruptcy in March 2015, it stated that its assets in the United States were valued at $1.21 billion. But volatility in the oil and gas markets in recent months have led energy companies to write down values. The proposed sale will go before a bankruptcy judge in Delaware for approval during a hearing set for tomorrow. Read more. 

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Albertsons Cos. has settled legal quarrels with West Coast grocer Haggen Holdings LLC, which filed for bankruptcy less than a year after buying 146 stores from Albertsons, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Described in a filing Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the settlement is worth up to $14 million for Haggen’s unsecured creditors, including $5.8 million in cash contributed by Albertsons. The settlement allows Albertsons and Haggen to walk away from civil disputes stemming from a deal blessed by the Federal Trade Commission. The settlement is subject to court approval. Albertsons sold the big string of stores to Haggen in January 2015 to get antitrust clearance to buy Safeway Inc.

Yellow Cab Cooperative Inc., San Francisco’s largest taxi company, filed for bankruptcy protection Friday, the latest in string of traditional taxi companies to turn to chapter 11 amid the rapid rise of ride-hailing rivals like Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc., the Wall Street Journal reported today. Pamela Martinez, the co-op’s president, said in court papers that her company faced a host of challenges, including a high number of accidents-related claims and liabilities, a steep decline in ridership and competition from newer app-based ride-sharing services, namely Uber and Lyft, which have also increasingly poached Yellow Cab drivers. In June, a jury awarded $8.1 million to a woman who was partially paralyzed in a Yellow Cab accident, court paper show, and the company said it faces some 150 open claims valued as high as $10 million.

Toy giant Mattel Inc. is preparing to take over the bankrupt manufacturer of Nabi children's tablets after winning a bankruptcy auction earlier this week with a $21.5 million bid, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Court papers show Mattel put in the highest offer for the brand of colorful tablets made by Fuhu Inc., which went up for sale after the El Segundo, Calif., company filed for bankruptcy in December. Fuhu has sold more than 4 million tablets through retailers like Target, Best Buy and Toys R Us but struggled after delays at the toy's overseas manufacturer caused it to miss much of the 2014 holiday sales season.

A U.S. judge will decide on Monday whether teen retailer American Apparel can exit bankruptcy under the control of hedge funds or if he will allow a takeover bid by investors working with its controversial former chief executive, Dov Charney, Reuters reported yesterday. Los Angeles-based American Apparel Inc., known for its "Made in the U.S.A." fashion and sexually charged advertising, wants approval for a bankruptcy-ending deal that would cede control to hedge fund bondholders, including Monarch Alternative Capital. Charney has challenged that deal, and wants Bankruptcy Judge <b>Brendan Shannon</b> to reject the company plan and allow his partners to pursue their $300 million takeover. That bid is backed by two investment funds, Hagan Capital Group and Silver Creek Capital Partners, but was recently rejected by the company's board.

American Apparel's chief executive told a bankruptcy judge yesterday the retailer could become embroiled in drawn-out litigation if it accepted a takeover bid being championed by its founder and former CEO Dov Charney, Reuters reported yesterday. Los Angeles-based American Apparel Inc., known for its "Made in the U.S.A.” fashion and sexually charged advertising, joined other teen-focused retailers by filing for bankruptcy in October due to changing shopping habits. The company is seeking court approval of a bankruptcy exit plan backed by a group of hedge funds. Charney has objected and is trying to convince the judge to allow a takeover backed by competing investment funds, Hagan Capital Group and Silver Creek Capital Partners, is a better deal. Last week, the company's board rejected the $300 million takeover bid involving Charney. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Shannon must decide if the hedge fund-backed plan, which has the support of a committee of the company's creditors, is fair and feasible.

The federal judge who ordered a group of bankruptcy professionals to report conversations with Bloomberg LP reporters involving troubled rare-earths mining company Molycorp Inc. changed his mind yesterday and granted the news organization more time to mount a legal challenge, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi said that he may have erred in denying Bloomberg a chance to challenge the order he issued last week. That order required some 120 professionals involved in Molycorp’s chapter 11 case to file sworn statements about any conversation they had with Bloomberg reporters concerning the mining company in recent months.

A U.S. judge yesterday opened the door to dismissing the $18 billion Caesars bankruptcy case unless parties find a way to make public results of a probe into whether the casino operator transferred its most profitable properties to new owners before filing to reorganize under chapter 11, Reuters reported yesterday. If Caesars insists that the report remain sealed, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Benjamin Goldgar said that he might dismiss the bankruptcy case, or convert it from chapter 11 reorganization to a chapter 7 liquidation "which would be a hoot." In March, Judge Goldgar ordered an independent investigation into creditor accusations that Caesars Entertainment Corp. had stripped its casino operating unit of its best assets. As the investigation nears its close, a lawyer for examiner Richard Davis said in court yesterday that Caesars and its unit had asked for the report, which contains some 7 million pages, to be filed under seal. "You can't have a bankruptcy process dependent on an examiner's report (...) on the theory that the report will then allow everyone to walk away smiling and holding hands and then object to it ever being released," Judge Goldgar said. He agreed to allow a redacted version of the report, which could be ready by the end of February, to be filed temporarily alongside a public summary, but told the examiner to go back to the drawing board for a procedure to release the full report.

A U.S. judge yesterday denied a request by media company Bloomberg LP to stay an order requiring more than 100 people to disclose information they shared with its reporters about the bankruptcy of the largest U.S. rare earth mining company, which Bloomberg said inhibits its free speech rights, Reuters reported yesterday. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi in Wilmington, Delaware, curtly dismissed the request by Bloomberg's legal team to stay his order for 48 hours so the company could appeal. Last week, Sontchi ordered 123 people to disclose by yesterday their contacts with Bloomberg reporters regarding Molycorp Inc. over the prior 60 days. Judge Sontchi had ordered Molycorp and its creditors and other parties into confidential mediation in November, and information from the mediation was apparently reported by Bloomberg. Judge Sontchi's order did not spell out what specific information in Bloomberg's reporting troubled the judge. The order was prompted by the parties to the case, who consented to making the disclosures. "The order issued by the Delaware bankruptcy court last Thursday strikes at the heart of the First Amendment and the fundamental mission of a free press: to provide transparency into important public events," said John Micklethwait, Bloomberg's editor-in-chief.

American Apparel's former chief executive officer Dov Charney will take the stand in Bankruptcy Court today in a last-ditch effort to wrest control of the ailing teen retailer from a group of hedge funds, Reuters reported yesterday. Los Angeles-based American Apparel Inc, known for its "Made in the U.S.A." fashion, filed for bankruptcy in October, saddled by debt, excess inventory and millions of dollars in legal claims tied to Charney. American Apparel wants approval for a plan that will bring the company out of bankruptcy under the control of hedge fund investors, including Standard General and Monarch Alternative Capital. Last week the company's board rejected a $300 million takeover bid involving Charney. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Shannon must decide if the hedge fund-backed plan, which has the backing of a committee of the company's creditors, is fair and feasible.