Drugmaker Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. said today that it filed for chapter 11 protection and will also file a motion to pursue an auction and sale process of substantially all its assets, Reuters reported. The company, which focuses on the treatment of obesity, said it expects proposed bids to be submitted by May 21 and the sale is intended to be concluded by July 2. Orexigen listed assets in the range of $50 million to $100 million and liabilities in the range of $100 million to $500 million, according to a filing in the Delaware bankruptcy court. A number of its senior secured noteholders have made a $35 million financing commitment to the company during the process, Orexigen said.
A U.S. marine transportation company that pleaded for the Trump administration to protect its industry filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday, according to court records, the latest sign of struggles in the offshore energy services business, Reuters reported. Louisiana-based Harvey Gulf International Marine LLC, which has more than 50 vessels in its fleet and supplies offshore oil rigs among other services, filed for chapter 11 protection in Houston. The company said in court papers that it had more than $1 billion in debt and has an agreement with lenders to reduce what the company owes. In return lenders would receive the equity in the company when it exits bankruptcy. Other creditors such as suppliers will be paid in full.
GreenTech Automotive Inc., an electric car maker co-founded by former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, has filed for bankruptcy, seeking protection from creditors after having raised $141.5 million from hundreds of investors under a program allowing immigrants to qualify for permanent U.S. residency, the Wall Street Journal reported. The car maker, which had a manufacturing plant in Mississippi but was based in northern Virginia, filed for chapter 11 protection Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Alexandria, Va. GreenTech’s lawyer Norman D. Chirite blamed the bankruptcy filing on several factors, including a series of “negative articles” in 2013 by a conservative online publisher, as well as lawsuits filed by investors and state and local governments in Mississippi, where a planned investment of $1 billion and 1,500 jobs never panned out. From 2009 to 2013, under McAuliffe’s chairmanship, GreenTech received $141.5 million from 283 individuals in the EB-5 program, which offers immigrant investors the chance to qualify for permanent U.S. residency by investing in efforts to create U.S. jobs. GreenTech, McAuliffe and Anthony Rodham — Hillary Clinton’s brother, who was the chief executive of a company involved in GreenTech’s EB-5 fundraising — are defendants in an investor lawsuit now pending in Virginia federal court. Another group of Chinese investors who each invested $500,000 as part of the EB-5 program, sued the company in Virginia state court last year and were awarded $7.6 million, bankruptcy record shows.
Supermarket chain Tops Markets LLC filed for bankruptcy protection Wednesday, the latest regional grocery chain to look to restructure its balance sheet as consumers move to nontraditional food retailers, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The Williamsville, N.Y., company, which operates about 170 supermarkets in New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont under the Tops name, said it plans to stay open during bankruptcy. It employs more than 14,000 people — most of whom belong to unions — and has lined up $265 million in loans to fund its business during the chapter 11 case. Tops officials said that the chain’s financial troubles come from the competitive industry and the record run in falling food prices last year that has hurt supermarket chains across the U.S. The company lost about $80 million on about $2.5 billion in revenue last year, according to documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, N.Y.
Fieldwood Energy LLC, one of the largest oil producers in the Gulf of Mexico, sought bankruptcy protection yesterday after agreeing to the terms of a novel deal with investors that calls for a combination of a debt-for-equity swap and the purchase of Noble Energy Inc.’s Gulf-based oil and gas assets, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Fieldwood, which is backed by energy investment firm Riverstone Holdings LLC, filed for chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston with a pre-packaged bankruptcy plan that hands control of the reorganized business to a group of junior debt holders, which includes Riverstone, and slashes $1.6 billion in debt off its books. Riverstone, which pumped nearly $700 million into Fieldwood’s equity since founding the company in late 2012, will see its stake greatly reduced under the chapter 11 plan. The New York investment firm will emerge with about 50 percent of the equity in the reorganized company by swapping debt it owns and injecting new cash.
The shuttered McNally Smith College of Music filed for chapter 11 protection on Thursday, two months after abruptly closing without giving faculty and staff their final paychecks, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. In the filing, the school indicated that it had assets between $10,000,001 and $50 million and estimated liabilities between $1,000,001 and $10 million. The filing also says that the college anticipates being able to pay the creditors, estimated to number between 200 and 999. With the school’s abrupt closing in December, more than 300 students were left scrambling to find ways to finish their education, and faculty and staff were left without final paychecks before the holidays.
Ascent Resources Marcellus Holdings, LLC, a division of the natural gas company owned by Energy Minerals Group, filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday, after reaching a deal with senior lenders on a sale or reorganization to preserve the business, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The bankruptcy filing includes a pre-packaged turnaround plan that garnered enough support from creditors to move swiftly through court. Parent Ascent Resources LLC, the Appalachian oil-and-gas explorer founded by late oilman Aubrey McClendon, isn’t part of the bankruptcy filing. Ascent Marcellus tested the market for buyers last year, but agreed with major creditors to pursue a debt-for-equity swap under chapter 11 bankruptcy protection instead, court papers said. Voting has already begun on a reorganizing bankruptcy exit plan that Ascent believes will ease it out of chapter 11 around the middle of March with a slimmer balance sheet. Ascent Marcellus focuses on natural gas and oil properties in the Marcellus Shale, but reined in drilling in 2015 due to a decline in prices and its distressed financial condition, court papers say. The Marcellus unit has a sister business called Ascent Resources Utica Holdings LLC, which operates in the Utica Shale basin in Ohio. The companies share common ownership, but the Utica business isn’t part of the bankruptcy case. Ascent Marcellus lost $677 million in 2016 followed by a loss of $98 million last year.
Cenveo Inc., one of the world’s largest envelope makers, filed for bankruptcy Friday, after reaching a deal with lenders that, if approved by a judge, would slash some $700 million from its balance sheet, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The printing company and several dozen affiliates sought chapter 11 protection at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, N.Y., citing an unsustainable $1.4 billion debt load and a growing shift in consumer preferences toward digital products. Cenveo, which is publicly traded, entered into a restructuring agreement on Thursday with a majority of top-ranking lenders, who are set take control of the company. Court papers show Cenveo hopes to complete its restructuring and to emerge from bankruptcy within six months.
Bon-Ton Stores Inc., one of the largest regional department store chains in the U.S., sought bankruptcy protection yesterday as discussions with its debt holders have yet to come to a conclusion, MarketWatch.com reported. The Pennsylvania-based retailer filed for chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., in a bid to deal with a crushing debt load and declining sales. While under bankruptcy protection, Bon-Ton will explore strategic alternatives, including a sale of the company or certain assets as a part of the reorganization plan. The company, which owns 260 stores, has announced it would be closing 42 of its stores across the Northeast and Midwest. Read more.
Patriot National Inc. filed for bankruptcy under a prearranged plan to hand control of its hobbled insurance-outsourcing business to lenders Cerberus Capital Management LP and TCW Asset Management Co., WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., company entered a chapter 11 process in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., stemming from the insolvency of its largest customer, a messy fallout with its former chief executive and mounting lawsuits from stockholders, employees and attorneys. Cerberus and Carlyle Group-backed TCW are poised to take control of Patriot National under a prenegotiated plan that would convert $223 million in debt to new equity, chief restructuring officer James Feltman said in a sworn declaration.
