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A Houston-based plastic recycling company, Covenant Plastics Inc., has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Houston, the Houston Business Journal reported today. Covenant buys, sells and recycles polymers and resins in various forms, according to the company's website. It has filed with the bankruptcy court of the Southern District of Texas. The company is bringing $4.12 million in debt to the bankruptcy proceedings, along with $3.02 million in assets, according to court documents. Its revenues, though, have been growing in the past two years — it reported $2 million in gross revenue in 2015, while 2016 saw $2.52 million, according to the filing.

Sungevity, a one-time high flyer in the solar industry, has eliminated hundreds of jobs, filed for bankruptcy yesterday and arranged a sale of all of its assets to an investment group, the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News reported today. The green energy company filed for a voluntary chapter 11 proceeding in the bankruptcy court in Delaware. Oakland (Calif.)-based Sungevity also has entered into an asset purchase agreement with a group of investors led by Northern Pacific Group, a Minnesota-based private equity firm. If approved by the bankruptcy court, Northern Pacific would obtain essentially all of the assets of Sungevity. Last week, Sungevity eliminated about 350 jobs, according to a source with knowledge of the company’s operations.

Answers Corp., which owns the Answers.com and Multiply websites, filed for chapter 11 protection on Friday with a plan to swap ownership of the company to creditors who are owed about $540 million, according to court documents, Reuters reported. Answers was acquired by Apax Partners, a European private equity firm, for about $900 million in 2014. The company rebranded itself last year as Multiply, a "fan engagement platform" that connects celebrities and their followers. St Louis-based Answers also owns ForeSee, which provides customer surveys, and Webcollage, a platform for website publishing. Under the company's plan, Answers will lower its debt by $471 million, according to documents filed in Manhattan's U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The plan has already been approved by 98 percent of Answers creditors.

Stemtech International, a formerly high-flying Pembroke Pines, Fla.-based dietary supplement maker, has filed for chapter 11 protection as it battles a former supplier and seeks Supreme Court review of a $1.6 million judgment from a 2008 copyright infringement case, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. The multilevel marketing company says on its website that its products help stem cells grow and circulate in the body, maintaining and repairing organs and tissues and “providing you with an unmatched level of wellness, both inside and out.” Stemtech submitted the filing on Feb. 2 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Fort Lauderdale. The company remains in operation and has not laid off any of its employees, bankruptcy attorney Michael Seese said yesterday.

Oil and natural gas explorer Vanguard Natural Resources LLC filed for bankruptcy protection, adding to a long list of energy firms that have succumbed to weak oil prices, Reuters reported yesterday. The company said that it signed an agreement with certain bondholders that includes a $19.25 million equity investment, with some debtors backing a $255.75 million rights offering. Vanguard also said it had obtained a $50 million debtor-in-possession financing facility, underwritten by Citibank NA, JPMorgan Securities LLC and Wells Fargo Bank NA. The financing, which is subject to court approval, combined with Vanguard's cash from operations, is expected to give the company sufficient liquidity during the chapter 11 process. Read more. 

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AtopTech Inc., the once-promising vendor of place-and-route electronic design automation (EDA) software, announced that it filed for chapter 11 protection and expects to be sold after losing a long-running legal battle with leading EDA vendor Synopsys Inc., EE Times reported on Friday. ATopTech, which is privately held, announced that it filed a motion with the bankruptcy court to sell its business and has selected a stalking-horse bidder. It said that it expects a bankruptcy auction to take place in mid-March and that the sale will be completed by March 31. The company said that it expects to continue to manage and operate its business under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware until the sale.

Telecommunications company Avaya Inc. filed for chapter 11 protection yesterday to reduce its debt load of about $6.3 billion but said that it would not sell its call center business, which it had tried to do last year, Reuters reported. The bankruptcy underscores the challenges telecommunications companies face as they transition to software and services from hardware. Early last year, Avaya had planned to sell its call center business but did not reach a deal with buyout firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice LLC, which had been in the lead to acquire it for about $4 billion. Avaya said that it must focus on its debt and that a sale of the call center would not maximize value for its customers or creditors. It is still negotiating deals to sell parts of its business. The company is hashing out terms of a restructuring deal with creditors. The original goal was to have one in place before bankruptcy, but an agreement was not reached. Avaya said an affiliate of Citigroup Inc. would provide a $725 million loan for up to a year to fund its operations during the reorganization.