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More than three dozen Buffalo (N.Y.) Diocese properties could soon be appraised for current values that ultimately may factor heavily into a settlement with sexual abuse claimants in the diocese’s chapter 11 bankruptcy court, the Buffalo News reported. Lawyers for the diocese are asking a federal judge to approve a request to hire KLW Appraisal Group to come up with valuations for 37 properties spread across six counties. The properties vary from 15 acres of vacant land in the Town of Hamburg near the Erie County Fairgrounds to a historically significant four-story office building in the heart of Buffalo’s medical corridor. They also include six school buildings, two retirement homes for priests, St. Joseph Cathedral, and the former Christ the King Seminary in Aurora. They were estimated collectively to be worth $16 million in 2020 when the diocese first sought chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in response to more than 200 Child Victims Act lawsuits alleging clergy and other diocese employees sexually abused children decades ago, according to a disclosure statement at the time. But the court papers also indicated that most of the properties had not undergone a recent appraisal.

In January, Copabanana, the iconic burger and margarita restaurant that has stood at Fourth and South Street in Philadelphia for 45 years, started a GoFundMe campaign to help pay its bills, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The long-standing eatery, with its funky green and blue palm tree facade, was buried in debt — the latest in a series of financial problems.“Copa needs help,” wrote co-owner Nick Ventura in a lengthy plea for donations. He laid blame for the restaurant’s struggles on the pandemic, the unrest that followed the murder of George Floyd, and the 2022 mass shooting nearby. He said the restaurant needed help with everything from past-due rent, mortgage and loan payments to growing medical expenses for Copabanana’s ailing founder, Bill Curry, who is confined to his home. Despite the emotional plea, the restaurant fell far short of its $250,000 goal, raising only $165. Now, in a final effort to avoid eviction, Copabanana, one of the few South Street businesses that can trace its roots to the street’s bohemian renaissance, has filed for chapter 11 protection. It is the third time that the restaurant has filed bankruptcy in the last decade.

SVB Securities management is in talks to buy back the investment bank from bankrupt SVB Financial Group, Bloomberg News reported. SVB Securities Chief Executive Officer Jeff Leerink and his team are preparing to announce a deal for the firm in the coming days, pending approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the matter isn’t public. No final decision has been made and talks could still fall apart. SVB Securities spent heavily in recent years hiring talent across Wall Street to build a competitive investment banking franchise, which was particularly strong in the health-care and technology sectors. The firm advised on about $9 billion in mergers and acquisitions last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Bloomberg News first reported in March that the management of SVB Securities was exploring buying back the firm after Silicon Valley Bank was seized by regulators. SVB Financial, the former parent of Silicon Valley Bank, filed for bankruptcy in March, though SVB Securities and venture capital arm SVB Capital weren’t included in the filing.

Aerospace supplier Incora filed for chapter 11 protection yesterday, citing depressed demand for aircraft maintenance and litigation over its efforts to restructure its debt outside of bankruptcy, Reuters reported. Incora entered bankruptcy with $3.14 billion in debt, according to its court filings in Houston bankruptcy court. Incora CEO David Coleal said in a statement that the company intended to "right-size" its debt while continuing to meet customer demand. Incora was formed through a 2020 merger of Wesco and Pattonair, both owned by the private equity firm Platinum Equity. The combination aimed to expand the companies’ global reach and provide cost-saving synergies, but the deal was finalized in March 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down air travel in much of the world, according to court documents. As air travel resumed, Incora faced additional challenges including supply chain disruption, high inflation, and a slower-than-expected rebound from the pandemic, particularly in China’s commercial air travel industry. Profits dropped from $204 million in 2019 to $65 million in 2021, according to court filings. Incora attempted to stave off bankruptcy through an out-of-court debt restructuring in 2022, which provided the company with $224 million in cash and extended the due date for a significant majority of its loans. The move was not enough to fully stabilize the company and sparked litigation from junior lenders who alleged that the debt restructuring improperly transferred value from some lenders to others.

A federal bankruptcy judge has ordered Diamond Sports to pay the full value of its media contracts to the Arizona Diamondbacks, Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers, the Associated Press reported. Judge Christopher Lopez made the ruling yesterday in Houston. Diamond Sports, which owns 19 networks under the Bally Sports banner, has been in chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the Southern District of Texas since it filed in March. Diamond said in a financial filing last fall it had debt of $8.67 billion. In April, the judge ruled Diamond to pay half of what the teams were owed in rights fees. “I think the contract rate is the right answer here,” said Judge Lopez in issuing his decision after two marathon days of testimony. The decision is another chapter in what has been a contentious week in the strained relationship between MLB and Diamond Sports. On Tuesday, the last San Diego Padres game was aired on Bally Sports San Diego after Diamond Sports missed a rights payment fee and let the grace period expire. MLB took over production of Padres' telecasts, beginning with Wednesday's game at the Miami Marlins. Whether MLB takes over other teams and Diamond Sports lets other payments lapse after the grace period will have to be answered over the next four months. If Diamond rejects the terms of the agreement, the rights would revert back to MLB and the teams.

A Davie, Fla.-based retailer of Invicta watches with stores in nine states has filed for bankruptcy protection, the South Florida Business Journal reported. Retailing Enterprises LLC, also doing business as Invicta Stores and Techno Marine Store, submitted a Chapter 11 petition to U.S. Bankruptcy Court's Southern District of Florida on May 30. According to court documents, Retailing Enterprises, owned by Mauricio Krantzberg, owes 20 creditors more than $47.52 million. Detailed assets were not included in the documents, although Krantzberg stated in a petition that his company made $27.88 million in sales so far this year. The court gave Retailing Enterprises LLC, represented by Boca Raton attorney Aaron Wernick, until June 13 to file more detailed financial information. Retailing Enterprises' largest creditors include Hollywood-based Invicta Watch Co. of America ($29.53 million), a Main Street loan from Miami-based City National Bank of Florida ($9.8 million), Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group ($3.85 million), New York-based Vornado Realty Trust ($1.6 million) and New Jersey merchandising company ZWI Group LLC ($1.05 million).

Wejo, a Manchester, England-based company that deals in connected vehicle data, has filed a notice of intention to enter administration to save it from liquidation, InsideRadio.com reported. The company, whose largest shareholder is General Motors Ventures, says it does not expect the move to impact its operations or business, according to BusinessLive. Wejo has been supplying connected car data to at least one U.S. broadcaster and has been working on signing others as clients. In a pilot study with Capitol Broadcasting Company, Wejo supplies near real-time radio listening data from cars and trucks in the broadcaster’s North Carolina base to use in programming decisions and for sales purposes. Capitol Broadcasting Company is the owner of 13 radio stations in Raleigh-Durham and Wilmington, N.C. The data comes from in-car sensors in vehicles made in 2015 or later that transmit billions of data points to automakers. As of April, Wejo had deals with 28 car companies to access their data and said it expected to sign up more in the next 6-12 months.

Johnson & Johnson yesterday faced the first trial in almost two years over claims that asbestos in its baby powder and other talc products causes cancer, as it seeks to settle thousands of similar cases in bankruptcy court. Emory Hernandez says that he developed mesothelioma, a deadly cancer, in the tissue around his heart as a result of exposure to J&J's talc products beginning when he was a baby. The company has denied that its talc contains asbestos, which is linked to mesothelioma, or causes cancer. Joseph Satterley, a lawyer for Hernandez, urged jurors in Alameda County, California court to reject the company's defenses and hold it responsible for his client's illness. Allison Brown, a lawyer for J&J, said in her opening statement that the company went to great lengths to ensure that there were no contaminants in its talc. She said that Hernandez's form of mesothelioma was very rare, and more likely related to a family history of heart disease and cancer. J&J subsidiary LTL Management in April filed for bankruptcy in Trenton, New Jersey proposing to pay $8.9 billion to settle more than 38,000 lawsuits, and prevent new cases from coming forward in the future. It is the company's second attempt to resolve talc claims in bankruptcy, after a federal appeals court rejected an earlier bid. Litigation has largely been halted during bankruptcy proceedings, but U.S. Chief Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan, who is overseeing LTL's chapter 11, allowed Hernandez's trial to go ahead because he is only expected to live a short time.

The cancer-treatment specialist GenesisCare has filed for bankruptcy protection, after struggling under a debt load enlarged by a $1.5 billion takeover, the Wall Street Journal reported. Australia-based GenesisCare said today that it would split its U.S. business from operations in Australia, Spain and the U.K. as part of the U.S. chapter 11 reorganization. GenesisCare didn't say how much debt would be affected by the filing. GenesisCare is backed by the U.S. private-equity giant KKR. Starting with a single clinic in 2005, it has grown to more than 300 locations in four countries and over 5,500 employees. “The past three years have presented significant operational and financial challenges, requiring a comprehensive restructuring of the operations and balance sheet of the company,” David Young, who started as GenesisCare’s chief executive in April, said in a statement. GenesisCare has secured $200 million of debtor-in-possession financing from existing lenders, and plans to continue operating without disruption to patient care.

Sam Bankman-Fried is seeking documents from a law firm that advised his defunct FTX cryptocurrency exchange, saying in a court filing that they could help him beat fraud charges, Reuters reported. The former crypto mogul said the documents could prove that he relied on legal advice from Silicon Valley law firm Fenwick & West and did not believe he was breaking the law. Manhattan federal prosecutors must prove he knew his conduct was illegal. Bankman-Fried, the 31-year-old founder of now-defunct FTX Trading, has pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court to 13 counts of fraud, conspiracy, illegal campaign contributions and foreign bribery. On Tuesday, he asked a judge to order prosecutors to turn over documents related to Fenwick’s legal advice on matters central to the government’s case, including FTX’s use of disappearing messaging services and failure to properly register with regulators. Bankman-Fried said in the filing that each of the charges against him requires the government to prove he acted willfully and that Fenwick’s legal advice could prove that he is innocent because he thought his actions were aboveboard. Bankman-Fried rode a boom in digital currency to a $26 billion net worth and became an influential political and philanthropic donor before FTX sought chapter 11 protection in November. Prosecutors allege Bankman-Fried stole billions of dollars in customer funds to plug losses in his hedge fund Alameda Research, which collapsed along with FTX last year after its risky cryptocurrency bets backfired.