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A Kirkwood, Mo.-based provider of disinfectant and antimicrobial products has filed for chapter 11 protection with plans to reorganize its debt under its current ownership, KSDK.com reported. Wexford Labs Inc. said in its filing that it has assets of $1.4 million and liabilities of $4.8 million. It filed its bankruptcy petition June 20 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Illinois. The company also has operations in Granite City. Founded in 1973 and led by CEO Jeff Singer, Wexford Labs develops and manufactures antimicrobial solutions it says are used in health care facilities, dental offices, hospitality and food service businesses, educational institutions and public service agencies, pharmaceutical sites and agricultural firms. Singer is Wexford Labs' majority owner with a nearly 43% equity stake in the company, according to the filing.

Luxury cruise company Vantage Deluxe World Travel is filing for bankruptcy and selling its operation, amid ongoing investigations, lawsuits, and hundreds of consumer complaints, Boston25news.com reported. The company announced on June 29 that it filed for chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts and agreed to be acquired by United Travel Pte. Ltd., an affiliate of Nordic Hamburg and Heritage Expeditions. Vantage laid off its employees June 20, weeks after Consumer Rescue first reported the company quietly postponed all its cruises through Aug. 28. Consumer Rescue provided Boston 25 an email that shows Vantage was still contacting its customers about future trips as recently as June 26. he Mass. Attorney General’s Office says it received 1,120 consumer complaints about Vantage since Jan. 1, 2020, including 478 complaints filed in 2023. 108 complaints came from Bay State residents. The AG’s Consumer Advocacy and Response Division said it had recovered more than $1.2 million for Vantage customers. The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office filed a lawsuit against Vantage earlier this month, accusing the company of “deceptive and unfair business practices” and taking advantage of older residents “by continuing to hold their refunds hostage.”

The owner of TV shopping network ShopHQ, iMedia Brands, has filed for bankruptcy citing reasons including inflation, declining cable subscribers and lower discretionary spending, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The Eden Prairie, Minn.-based company, which also owns apparel brand Christopher & Banks and leather-goods business J.W. Hulme, is “actively engaged with a potential acquirer” and is working to finalize the sale soon, iMedia Chief Transformation Officer James Alt said in a sworn declaration filed in bankruptcy court Thursday. The company entered chapter 11 with $272 million in assets and $374 million owed to creditors, according to filings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. It plans to fund its bankruptcy with cash provided by lenders including Crystal Financial, SLR Business Credit and Siena Lending Group, court records show. Alt said that iMedia filed for bankruptcy less than a week after an investment firm sued it in a state court in Utah for allegedly breaching terms on a loan. Most of iMedia’s revenue is generated by its flagship network, ShopHQ, as well as the male-oriented ShopBulldogTV, ShopHQHealth and German shopping network 1-2-3.tv. Sales at the company’s TV network segment fell to roughly $456 million in the fiscal year ended Jan. 28 from $478.9 million the prior year. The segment had a loss of $101.9 million, compared with a loss of $13.5 million a year earlier. The company as a whole reported a net loss of $70 million, widening from $22 million the previous fiscal year.

Embattled Fresno, Calif.-based technology company Bitwise Industries and several of its affiliated businesses have filed for bankruptcy in the wake of a financial collapse in late May, the Fresno Bee reported. Bitwise’s parent company, BW Industries Inc. filed the chapter 7 bankruptcy petition Wednesday with the U.S. District bankruptcy court in Delaware, where the company was incorporated. In addition to BW Industries Inc., the filing notes four other associated cases: Bitwise Industries Inc.; BWRD LLC.; AlphaWorks Technologies LLC, and Bruce’s Bagels, Beverages and Bites LLC. Bitwise was founded in 2013 as a hub for training students in software coding and website design, technology services for local companies, and providing leased space to budding technology entrepreneurs and other businesses. In recent years, the company’s co-founders and co-CEOs, Jake Soberal and Irma Olguin Jr., embarked on an ambitious program of expanding Bitwise’s geographic footprint — first within California to sites in Oakland, Merced and Bakersfield, and within the past two years to other states including Colorado, Illinois, New Mexico, New York, Ohio and Texas. However, Bitwise was upended by financial upheaval even in the wake of announcing an $80 million venture capital infusion earlier this year, and on May 29 abruptly announced to its 900 employees nationwide — including about 400 in the Fresno area — that they were being furloughed immediately.

Peer Street, a real-estate debt provider aiming to make financing more accessible for wealthy investors and institutions, has filed for bankruptcy due to reduced mortgage demand and scarcer venture-capital funding, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The El Segundo, Calif.-based online platform, which counts venture-capital firms including Andreessen Horowitz and World Innovation Lab as backers, plans to sell itself as part of a chapter 11 filed on Monday. The company entered bankruptcy with both assets and liabilities of up to $100 million. It plans to keep operating while looking for buyers for its loans and other holdings, according to the filing. Rising interest rates have caused demand for mortgages to drop significantly, reducing Peer Street’s revenue, Chief Restructuring Officer David Dunn said in a sworn declaration filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. Peer Street was founded in 2013 with an aim of giving individual investors access to an asset class that typically has been difficult to tap into, while also providing capital to real-estate lenders and their borrowers. The company gets its loans from private lenders and brokers, and also originates, sells and services loans. Peer Street has originated $5.4 million in mortgages so far this year until its bankruptcy filing, down from $385 million last year and $696 million the year before.

U.S. electric truck manufacturer Lordstown Motors filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday and put itself up for sale after failing to resolve a dispute over a promised investment from Taiwan's Foxconn, Reuters reported. Shares of Lordstown tumbled 35.6% in pre-market trading. The automaker, named after the Ohio town where it is based, filed for chapter 11 protection in Delaware and simultaneously took legal action against Foxconn. In a complaint filed in bankruptcy court, Lordstown accused the electronics company of fraudulent conduct and a series of broken promises in failing to abide by an agreement to invest up to $170 million in the electric-vehicle manufacturer. Foxconn previously invested about $52.7 million in Lordstown as part of the agreement, and currently holds an almost 8.4% stake in the EV maker. Lordstown contends Foxconn is balking at purchasing additional shares of its stock as promised and misled the EV maker about collaborating on vehicle development plans.

Data-center operator Cyxtera Technologies Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection in New Jersey on Sunday, two years after the company went public, as it struggles to pay down debt and faces a severe funding crunch, the Economic Times reported. Miami, Florida-based Cyxtera is a provider of co-location services, which allows companies to keep their privately-owned servers and networking equipment in a third-party data center, such as ones owned by Cyxtera. In March, the company entered into an agreement with its lenders to extend its $120.1 million revolving credit facility and extended its maturity to 2024. Cyxtera shares have dropped more than 90% since it listed on the Nasdaq in 2021, trading at $0.16 as of last close. It had agreed to go public through a merger with a blank-check firm backed by shareholder activist Starboard Value LP, in a deal valuing the combined entity at $3.4 billion. The company, which currently runs more than 60 data centers, listed both assets and liabilities in the range of $1 billion to $10 billion. It has more than 5,000 creditors and entered into a process of restructuring its business earlier in May. It received $50 million last month and said in a statement on Sunday it got an additional commitment of $200 million in debtor-in-possession financing from its lenders to keep itself afloat during the chapter 11 process.

The Global Tee Co. LLC, a seller of motivational fitness apparel, has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the business, Crain's Grand Rapids reported. The Cascade Township, Mich.-based company, which does business as Fitness Tee Co., filed for bankruptcy protection on May 25 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Michigan. Global Tee is pursuing chapter 11 under Subchapter V of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, which allows small businesses to reorganize while allowing owners to retain a stake in the company. Owned by CEO Scott Sandberg, Global Tee listed nearly $190,000 in assets, which include cash on hand, equipment, and blank and finished clothing inventory, according to court filings. That compares with $1.1 million in liabilities, including nearly $658,000 in unsecured claims. In the filing, the company said it “has fallen behind in payments to its creditors, including taxing authorities” who have filed levies on its bank accounts, “which has interrupted cash flow necessary for continuation of (Global Tee’s) business operations.” Creditors with some of the largest priority unsecured claims include the city of Kentwood ($15,000), the Florida Department of Revenue Taxpayer Services ($16,900), the Indiana Department of Revenue ($6,400), the Michigan Department of Treasury ($6,400), the State of Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts ($10,500) and the Ohio Department of Taxation ($9,700).

Peace Equipment LLC, a company headquartered in Edcouch, Texas, filed for chapter 11 protection last week, citing rising operating costs and “reduced income in the trucking industry,” Freight Waves reported. The company also noted merchant cash advances as being a contributing factor to Peace Equipment’s financial issues, according to court filings. Peace Equipment filed its chapter 11 petition, which seeks to reorganize, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas on Wednesday. The company, which has been operating since 2016, has 38 drivers and 27 power units and hauls general freight, fresh produce and refrigerated food throughout the U.S. In its filing, Peace Equipment lists both its assets and liabilities as between $1 million and $10 million. The petition states the company has up to 49 creditors and maintains that funds will be available for distribution to unsecured creditors once it pays administrative fees. Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Eduardo V. Rodriguez authorized Peace Equipment’s interim order on Thursday, authorizing the temporary use of its cash collateral to continue operating.

Venator Materials PLC, the former pigments and additives division of The Woodlands, Texas-based Huntsman Corp., has filed for bankruptcy protection in Houston along with 23 affiliates, the Houston Business Journal reported. In the main chapter 11 petition filed May 14, the U.K.-based company listed total assets of nearly $1.42 billion and total debts of more than $1.53 billion. The petitions were filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, which is well known for handling large corporate restructurings. However, Venator expects to emerge from bankruptcy quickly. On May 15, the manufacturer and marketer of chemical products said an "overwhelming majority of its lenders and noteholders" had agreed to the terms of a comprehensive recapitalization plan, which would be implemented through an expedited prepackaged chapter 11 process. Venator's plan already had support from "the holders of 94% in principal of the obligations under the Term Loan Facility, holders of 98% in principal of the obligations under the Senior Secured Notes, and holders of 92% in principal of the obligations under the Senior Unsecured Notes and rolls-up all of the obligations under the (asset-based lending facility)," CFO Kurt Ogden said in a declaration filed May 15. Venator plans to exchange nearly all of the company's funded debt for equity. The New York Stock Exchange delisted Venator, as expected, and the company's shares are trading on the over-the-counter marketplace during the chapter 11 process. The shares are expected to be canceled as part of the restructuring. On May 16, Judge David R. Jones approved setting June 15 as the deadline to vote on the plan, June 20 as the deadline to file objections and June 26 as the date for a hearing on the confirmation of the plan.