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U.S.-based online and catalogue retailer AmeriMark Interactive and six affiliated debtors have filed voluntary chapter 11 petitions in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware,Retail Insights reported. The six debtors are AMDRL Holdings, AmeriMark Intermediate Sub, AmeriMark Direct, AmeriMark Intermediate Holdings, Dr Leonard’s Healthcare and LTD Commodities. The Cleveland, Ohio-based company sells home goods, clothing and health care goods mainly via catalogues and online. Before officially filing the bankruptcy cases, the associated debtors retained an investment banker and promoted their assets for sale but have not received offers from one or more buyers. AmeriMark has assured that all the affiliated companies will fulfil the pending orders that were shipped before the beginning of bankruptcy cases. In the case of orders that were not shipped before the bankruptcy filings, the customers will be exempted from being charged.

National CineMedia Inc., the biggest movie-theater advertising business in North America, said on Tuesday it filed for bankruptcy protection and had entered into a restructuring agreement with its lenders, Reuters reported. This adds to the growing list of challenges facing the cinema industry, which has been hit hard by the pandemic and a lack of major film releases, and follows a similar move by Cineworld, which filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection in September. In an effort to de-leverage its balance sheet, NCM said it entered into an agreement with its secured lenders to convert its debt into equity. The company will receive an ownership interest of about 14% in the restructured entity, it said. Despite some progress in post-pandemic recovery, industry executives have cautioned that the sector is still a long way from returning to its pre-pandemic heights, with theaters and studios facing significant disruptions in production and attendance.

Baltimore-based Shoe City is shutting down after 74 years and closing all 39 stores in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., WMAR2News.com reported. "Unfortunately, after 74 years in business, the Shoe City legacy has come to an end," wrote attorney Stanley W. Mastil, the chief restructuring officer in a bankruptcy filing for the company. Shoe City, which goes by ESCO, Ltd., and YCMC, filed for bankruptcy in federal court in Maryland on April 3. Mastil noted that it "remains a family-owned business to this day as the equity of the Debtor is owned by family members and family trusts of the founders." All stores will close by May 31.

Catalina Marketing Corp., a data and marketing services provider to retailers and consumer products companies, filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday for the second time with a prepackaged plan to slash debt and sell its business in Japan, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Catalina has suffered from a decline in demand for its services in recent years, including during the COVID-19 pandemic when most retailers were forced to close their doors, according to a court filing yesterday by Chief Financial Officer Michael Huffmaster. The company filed for chapter 11 protection with a deal in hand to sell its Japanese business to a buyer backed by a Japanese private-equity firm for $103 million and to restructure its U.S. business by reducing its $370 million in debt, according to the filing. The St. Petersburg, Fla.-based company has garnered the support of nearly all creditors to cut $260 million in debt and will seek to exit bankruptcy within just over two months, court papers show. A restructuring plan has already been put to a vote of creditors, with ballots due on April 11. The company slashed even more debt, $1.6 billion, when it last filed for bankruptcy in 2018, but the business faced unexpected headwinds since then, according to Mr. Huffmaster.

Codiak BioSciences Inc. said yesterday that it has filed for chapter 11 protection in the latest blow to the struggling drug developer's ambitions of making a COVID-19 vaccine, Reuters reported. The chapter 11 filing ends months of investor uncertainty after the company, which has been facing a cash crunch, raised going concern doubts and cut its workforce by 37% last year. The company said yesterday that it will cut an additional 34 jobs, bringing its total number of employees to 19, and expects to incur severance-related costs of about $1.1 million. Codiak previously said it would prioritize its COVID-19 vaccine development program that was funded by a global vaccine coalition, while halting development of two cancer drug candidates which were ready for mid-stage study. The company will also wind down a clinical trial of its drug for a type of bone marrow cancer, according to a filing yesterday. The $2.5-million funding by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations in July was aimed at an experimental vaccine that would target COVID-19 as well as other coronaviruses.

Mountain Express Oil Co. has filed for voluntary chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, CSPDailyNews.comreported. The fuel distribution and convenience-store retailer intends to achieve a comprehensive restructuring, and it expects to continue to conduct business throughout the process. Mountain Express-owned or affiliated fuel centers, travel centers, c-stores and retail operations are maintaining normal operations, it said. A restructuring “will strengthen the company’s fuel distribution business, dealer network and retail business,” it said. Mountain Express is in discussions with its secured lenders regarding a commitment of debtor-in-possession financing, which it said will provide additional liquidity and “assure its ability to meet its post-petition obligations in the ordinary course of business.” To help fund and protect its operations, Mountain Express intends to use cash collateral, upon approval from the court, along with normal operating cash flows, as the company pursues the “value-maximizing” restructuring and seeks to emerge from bankruptcy in a timely manner. Founded in 2000, Mountain Express Oil serves 828 fueling centers and 27 travel centers across 27 states. It has established relationships with major oil companies including ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, Chevron, Texaco and Sunoco, among other major suppliers. Mountain Express also has a dealer joint venture with Pilot Co., Knoxville, Tennessee Since 2013, Mountain Express has distributed more than 1.1 billion gallons of fuel, it said.

Diamond Sports Group, which provides local television broadcasts for nearly half of NBA, NHL and MLB games, filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection in Texas on yesterday, caught between expensive broadcast rights agreements and sports viewers' cord-cutting habits, Reuters reported. Diamond Sports, a Sinclair Broadcast Group subsidiary that operates the "Bally Sports" branded channels, listed assets and liabilities between $1 billion and $10 billion each in its chapter 11 petition. Diamond CEO David Preschlack said Tuesday that the Diamond "will continue broadcasting games and connecting fans across the country with the sports and teams they love" during its chapter 11 bankruptcy. Diamond said that it has $425 million in cash on hand, but it owes $9 billion to its lenders and is weighed down by long-term broadcast rights agreements that make less economic sense as customers move away from cable and towards online streaming options.

An anticipated chapter 11 petition for Madera (Calif.) Community Hospital was filed in federal bankruptcy court on Friday, the The Business Journal reported. Saint Agnes Medical Center is the largest secured creditor, owed $15.4 million. New England Sheet Metal and one of its subcontractors together hold mechanic’s liens of about $1.1 million. About $2 million is owed in unpaid, accumulated time off for employees. All unsecured creditors are owed a total of about $9.1 million. Madera Community Hospital also filed a list of its 20 largest, unsecured creditors. The largest unsecured creditor is Citizens Business Bank, owed $1.1 million, followed by the State of California Emergency Medical Services Authority owed $776,412 and Arya Medical Group in Fresno owed $300,723. Assets include $5 million in cash, the hospital campus with an estimated value of $16 million to $60 million and incoming provider fees of $24 million. Along with the bankruptcy petition, Madera Community Bank also filed emergency motions to pay certain pre-petition wages, salaries, benefits and other compensation. According to the filing, the hospital has laid off more than 700 employees since Dec. 26, and currently has 31 full-time employees and four per diem employees managing the shuttered facility in administration and maintenance positions.

Loyalty Ventures Inc. filed for bankruptcy Friday, blaming its financial problems largely on its 2021 spinoff from its parent company, a move that it said left the new business with substantial debt and limited cash flow, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The Dallas-based loyalty-programs operator filed for chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston and said it plans to sell its customer-rewards programs including its Air Miles Reward Program, a loyalty program popular in Canada, and its Europe-based BrandLoyalty program for grocers and other retailers. Loyalty, which initiated a companion bankruptcy in Canada, listed nearly $1.6 billion in assets and nearly $2 billion in debt. The chapter 11 filing comes little more than a year after Loyalty was spun off from Bread Financial Holdings Inc., formerly known as Alliance Data Systems Corp. Revenue and earnings at Loyalty were in decline even before the spinoff and the company was saddled with substantial liabilities, it said in court filings. Loyalty owes more than $656 million on a credit facility it was required to take on as part of the 2021 spinoff, Chief Executive Charles Horn said in a sworn statement. Proceeds from the credit facility plus $100 million taken from Loyalty’s operating businesses were used to pay down Alliance Data debt, Mr. Horn said. Read more.