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Fashion jewelry chain Charming Charlie LLC said yesterday that it filed for chapter 11 protection and entered into a restructuring agreement with lenders and equity sponsors, Reuters reported. The retailer said that it had secured $20 million in debtor-in-possession financing from a majority of its existing term loan lenders and entered into a $35 million asset backed loan with current lenders. The majority of its stores and its website would operate as usual, Charming Charlie said, adding that it would roll out a “back-to-basics” strategy, close underperforming locations and simplify business operations.

Level Solar, a Manhattan-based provider of rooftop solar power, filed for chapter 11 protection on Monday, citing debts in excess of $5 million, Newsday reported. The company listed assets of between $50 million and $100 million, and more than 200 creditors. Among the creditors was Hauppauge, N.Y.-based Cooper Electric Supply Co., its primary electric equipment and parts supplier, which is owed more than $4.5 million, according to the filing in federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan. Level Solar sought bankruptcy court approval to hire a forensic accounting firm to look into “potential financial and other misconduct” of a former company official “and possibly others,” according to the filing.

Real-estate developer Woodbridge Group of Companies has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it grapples with questions about its fundraising practices from the Securities and Exchange Commission, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The bankruptcy filing means thousands of individual investors, including retirees that helped finance Woodbridge’s real estate dealings, are at risk of losing hundreds of millions of dollars in Woodbridge’s chapter 11 case. The bankruptcy filing may also send tremors through the Southern California real-estate market, where many of the company’s properties — with an estimated $650 million to $750 million — are located. Woodbridge owns the Owlwood estate, a 1930s Italian Renaissance-style mansion once owned by the pop duo Sonny and Cher. A Woodbridge affiliate paid $90 million for Owlwood in September 2016 and has it on the market for $180 million. Owlwood was purchased the same month the SEC started asking questions about Woodbridge and its practice of raising money from mom-and-pop retail investors.

Atlanta-based radio giant Cumulus Media has filed for chapter 11 with $2.4 billion in debt, and it has reached an agreement with 69 percent of its term loan holders, Variety reported. Cumulus’s pre-packaged restructuring agreement with lenders will reduce the company’s debt by more than $1 billion. Earlier this month, Cumulus defaulted on a nearly $24 million debt payment to its lenders. The stock will continue to trade on the OTC (over-the-counter) market, where it moved after being delisted at NASDAQ last week. The company will also cease paying interest on bonds or interest that will accrue on bonds during its financial restructuring process, according to a post on the company website.

The Colorado manufacturer of Niner bikes has filed for bankruptcy, saying it borrowed too much money during explosive growth that led it to reach more than $15 million in annual sales, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Executives who put the Fort Collins, Colo., company into bankruptcy on Monday said an extensive search for buyers earlier this year turned up a purchase offer from an investment group. The chapter 11 process will fast-track the company’s sale and give it access to a new loan so it can keep up with orders for the coming spring and summer season — its busiest time, they said. Chief Executive Chris Sugai said in court papers that Niner Inc.’s bike models, which are known for their 29-inch wheels, have drawn “a cult following within the mountain biking community” since he helped found the company in 2005. The bikes are sold through a network of about 400 U.S. dealers, while international sales in 35 countries bring in roughly 30 percent of its revenue, according to documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Denver. Sugai didn’t state whether the company made a profit in recent years or why it borrowed money. He said broadly its debt has grown to nearly $8 million.

Real Industry Inc. and its aluminum recycling business Real Alloy Holding Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Real Industry, a publicly traded holding company, and its Beachwood, Ohio-based Real Alloy unit plus seven related companies sought chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., with funded debt obligations of some $401 million. In a declaration filed with the court, Chief Executive Michael Hobey blamed the aluminum recycling company’s financial problems on continued weakness in the steel industry and significantly lower commodity prices, which put downward pressure on the price of steel scrap and boosted demand for aluminum scrap, a key input for its business. The company was also forced to shut down its Houston aluminum recycling facility for 10 days due to Hurricane Harvey, the CEO said.

Once a darling of the Mojave aerospace start-up scene, space plane builder Xcor Aerospace has filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy, the Los Angeles Times reported. A court document filed last week with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California says the company has more than 100 creditors and assets estimated between $1 million and $10 million. Xcor’s liabilities are estimated in the filing to be between $10 million and $50 million. In a message sent last week to investors and company shareholders, Xcor Chief Executive Michael Blum and Chairman Tom Burbage said their effort to “find a financial future for Xcor has not succeeded.”

Bikram Choudhury Yoga Inc., a California-based studio that popularized what is known as “hot yoga,” filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy on Thursday, listing more than $16 million in legal judgments, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The judgments include one from a high-ranking employee who said she was fired after reporting sexual misconduct by yoga guru Bikram Choudhury. Hot yoga, also known as Bikram yoga, involves twisting into 26 positions with the heat cranked up to more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Choudhury pioneered hot yoga in the 1990s, and it has been taught at hundreds of schools world-wide. The chapter 11 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Barbara, Calif., listed liabilities of $10 million to $50 million, with the biggest creditors being former employees. Also filing for bankruptcy protection were several affiliates including Bikram Inc. and Bikram Yoga College of India LP.

Pacific Drilling S.A. said yesterday that it and certain of its domestic and international subsidiaries have filed for chapter 11 protection, according to a press release. The company intends to use the chapter 11 process to pursue a comprehensive restructuring of the company’s approximately $3.0 billion in principal amount of outstanding funded debt. With approximately $350 million of cash and cash equivalents as of September 30, 2017 and seven of the most advanced high-specification drillships in the world, the company intends to continue its world-wide operations as usual and to perform and pay all obligations incurred during its chapter 11 case in full, subject to court approval. Read more. 

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