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A business group that owns an historic building in New Castle, Pa., has filed for bankruptcy protection to allow financial reorganization, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. Olde Library Office Complex Partnership filed for bankruptcy under chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, citing assets of $495,796 — including $350,000 for the value of the building — and liabilities of $294,248. Among the partnership’s creditors were Cedar Tree Management Corp., $87,357 for loans and management fees; Thomas J. George, $38,167; and Robert J. Bruce, $33,100, both for loans. The Olde Library Office Complex, which opened in 1906, had a number of uses over the years, including the New Castle Library until 1981. Addresses for both Cedar Tree Management and George were listed at the three-story granite building.

Fashion retailer Forever 21 Inc. filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, as it joined a growing list of brick-and-mortar players who have succumbed to the onslaught of e-commerce companies such as Amazon.com Inc., Reuters reported. “We have requested approval to close up to 178 stores across the U.S. The decisions as to which domestic stores will be closing are ongoing, pending the outcome of continued conversations with landlords,” the company said in an email statement. Founded in 1984, the retailer said that it has 815 stores in 57 countries. The company plans to close most of its stores in Asia and Europe. However, it does not expect to exit any major markets in the United States. The company lists both assets and liabilities in the range of $1 billion to $10 billion, according to the court filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The retailer said it received $275 million in financing from its existing lenders with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. as agent, and $75 million in new capital from TPG Sixth Street Partners, and certain of its affiliated funds. Read more. 

Occupancy issues are at the heart of many significant retail cases, as detailed in the ABI publication Retail and Office Bankruptcy: Landlord/Tenant Rights, available at the ABI Store. 

Cold Carriers, a truckload carrier assembled from four of KJMs acquisitions, filed chapter 11 protection on Friday, FreightWaves.com reported. Cold Carriers was formed when KJM consolidated it’s acquisitions of Gantt Trucking, Sunco Trucking, Blue Sky Trucking, and Interide Transport, into a single operating parent. The company had 339 trucks, according to FMCSA data. KJM is a private equity firm based in Orlando, Florida, that was launched in 2014 and made six acquisitions, five of which were in the transportation and logistics space. The firm says that it is focused on acquiring private companies with EBITDA between $3 million to $10 million and revenues between $20 million to $100 million.

Baltimore-based meal kit company Terra’s Kitchen has filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy, according to court documents, the Baltimore Sun reported. A bankruptcy petition filed in Maryland’s District Court this week lists the company’s assets at just over $15,000, while their debts come to nearly $20 million. Investors include Hunt Valley, Md.-based Sinclair Broadcasting, owed more than $1 million, and former CEO Michael McDevitt, who invested around $6 million in the company. Tuhaye Venture Partners of New York invested more than $3 million, according to the filings. A meeting of creditors is scheduled for Nov.1 at Baltimore’s Garmatz Courthouse. CFO Brendan Connors wrote in a letter this week to investors that the company would cease operations after struggling to raise capital “in the current environment surrounding the meal kit space.” The meal kit’s website tells customers: “We are taking a short break from day-to-day delivery operations starting August 12th.” Terra’s Kitchen allowed diners to subscribe to weekly or monthly deliveries, with vessels that come packed with everything needed to prepare meals in around 30 minutes. The company also recently settled a class action lawsuit with California customers regarding subscription disclosures. In a separate case, a judge ordered the company to pay more than $100,000 to Baltimore’s Jellyfish Online Marketing.

Sienna Biopharmaceuticals Inc. has filed for bankruptcy with plans to find a buyer or investor during its chapter 11 proceedings, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The publicly traded drugmaker, whose major investors include Arch Venture Partners, filed its petition on Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. The move to seek protection from creditors comes about a month after Sienna warned that there were substantial doubts about its ability to continue as a going concern, raised the possibility of a bankruptcy filing and said it had hired investment bank Cowen Inc. to explore financial and strategic alternatives. Westlake Village, Calif.-based Sienna filed for bankruptcy days after its cash levels fell below the minimum prescribed by a credit agreement, a court filing shows. That loan covenant required Sienna to have cash of the greater of $30 million, or $15 million plus its cash burn over the past six months. Sienna had net cash used in its operations of $21.2 million as of June 30, down from $30.2 million at the same point a year earlier, a court filing said. The company, which went public in 2017, also said its ability to raise financing has been hurt by a declining stock price. Last month, Sienna said it was told by the Nasdaq Stock Market that for 30 straight business days its stock had closed below $1 a share, the minimum required for continued listing. Sienna has until Feb. 5, 2020, to regain compliance.

Sheridan Production Partners II LLC filed for bankruptcy with plans to hand ownership to its lenders, subject to better bids, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The transaction is aimed at reducing the oil-and-gas company’s $1.1 billion debt load by about $900 million. The Houston-based company and several affiliates filed chapter 11 petitions Sunday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston. Industry challenges have squeezed liquidity, making it difficult for the business to make interest payments on its debt, the business said. Sheridan’s slide into bankruptcy comes about a year after it began looking for ways to restructure. Sheridan borrowed heavily to buy producing oil fields — several of which are in Texas — but slumped after energy prices nosedived in 2014. By the end of 2018, it was out of compliance with one of its loan covenants. To avoid a default, Sheridan got waivers from some of its lenders that lasted until the end of May.

Embattled lab-testing startup uBiome Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday and put its assets up for sale after suspending testing of its clinical products, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The San Francisco-based company filed for chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., and said that it has lined up an $8 million bankruptcy loan to keep its business open while it looks for a buyer. The company, which is under federal investigation for its billing practices, laid off around half of its global workforce in July. UBiome had been trying to build a business on testing patients’ microbiomes based on emerging science that suggests microorganisms in the gut and other parts of the body can play a role in health. The startup had raised $83 million in a financing round from investors that included 8VC and Y Combinator. But the company has suspended the two lab tests for which it was billing insurance companies. Some of the companies had already largely or completely stopped paying claims. UBiome co-founders Jessica Richman and Zac Apte, who were earlier suspended from their positions as co-chief executives, resigned from the company’s board.

Am Law 200 firm LeClairRyan filed for bankruptcy yesterday, five weeks after members voted to dissolve in late July, Law.com reported. The chapter 11 filing, in the Eastern District of Virginia, indicates LeClairRyan owes nearly $15 million to two secured creditors: ULXP, the joint venture the firm launched with UnitedLex to handle support services, and the firm’s primary lender, ABL Alliance LLLP. The firm did indicate that it expected to to have some funds left for its unsecured creditors, which it estimated to number more than 200 but less than 1,000. The firm said that both its estimated liabilities and estimated assets fell between $10 million and $50 million.

RAIT Financial Trust has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy and said it plans to sell its assets to a buyer affiliated with Fortress Investment Group LLC for $174.4 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Philadelphia-based real-estate investment trust, which manages commercial real-estate loans and properties, sought protection from creditors on Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. The chapter 11 filing comes less than two weeks after RAIT was told that it had defaulted on bonds due in 2019 and 2024, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Those bonds have combined principal outstanding of about $120 million, the filing said. The company’s bankruptcy petition lists both assets and liabilities ranging from $100 million to $500 million.