%1

Fast-casual restaurant chain operator Cosi Inc. and its units filed for chapter 11 protection yesterday and said that it would pursue a sale, Reuters reported. The Boston-based company, known for its homemade flat bread, has assets of $31.24 million and debt of about $20 million, according to a court filing. Cosi said that it had received about $4 million in post-petition debtor-in-possession financing to maintain operations during the chapter 11 process. The company said that it had entered into a non-binding agreement with lenders AB Opportunity Fund LLC, AB Value Partners LP and entities affiliated with Milfam II LP under which the DIP lenders offered to buy Cosi's assets and serve as a stalking-horse bidder in a sale process.

NJOY Inc., one of the nation’s largest electronic cigarette makers, filed for bankruptcy in Delaware on Sept. 16, owing close to $4 million in unpaid legal fees to several big firms, including DLA Piper and Goodwin Procter, the National Law Journal reported yesterday. The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company seeks to remain in business while selling off assets is a leading manufacturer and distributor of e-cigarettes and other vaping products. Jeffrey Weiss, NJOY’s general counsel and interim president, said in a declaration of his own that the company’s bankruptcy was attributed to several issues. Among them were the market failure of NJOY’s King 2.0 disposable e-cigarette in 2013 and its unsuccessful attempt at a rebranding in 2014. Another contributing factor to NJOY’s chapter 11 filing was the substantial costs incurred by the company this year in order to comply with a series of regulations announced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in May controlling the registration and distribution of e-cigarettes, according to Weiss’ declaration.

Noble Environmental Power LLC, a wind-energy company backed by billionaire Michael Dell, filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday in a debt-for-equity restructuring deal, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Noble entered chapter 11 protection with a restructuring deal that gives sole control of the Centerbrook, Conn., energy company to Dell Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Michael Dell’s investment operation, MSD Capital. MSD Capital, which already owns 54 percent of Noble, will take a 100 percent stake in the reorganized wind-energy company. In exchange the investment company will forgive about 10 percent, or $21.5 million, of the $215 million in debt it’s owed, said Kay McCall, Noble’s chief executive, in court papers.

Delivery Agent, a company that helps entertainment and sports operations sell products online, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday, after hopes of an initial public offering of stock fell through, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Hillair Capital Investments L.P., which stepped up with rescue financing late last year, is set to lead a bankruptcy auction for the business. Hopes are that the chapter 11 filing will spur interest in Delivery Agent, allowing a sale free and clear of the more than $65 million in unsecured debt weighing on the company’s balance sheet. The idea behind the San Francisco-based company is to help TV, music and other entertainment companies sell products to consumers, through online technology. Delivery Agent is connected to hundreds of digital commerce storefronts, offering thousands of products relating to TV shows, movies, music, sports and artists. Besides its proprietary e-commerce technology platform, the company provides in-house services including website operations, product design, development, merchandising, order fulfillment, and customer service.

Aerospace-parts manufacturer Fansteel Inc. filed for bankruptcy Tuesday, blaming its financial troubles on the U.S. military drawdown in Afghanistan and the drop in oil prices, Dow Jones Newswires reported yesterday. Fansteel, which along with its affiliates employs more than 600 people, filed for chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Des Moines, Iowa, seeking to restructure a debt load that tops $40 million. The company serves customers in the aerospace and defense industries, and its parts are used in U.S. military helicopters and aircraft carriers, court papers say. As oil fell to $35 a barrel, the Creston, Iowa-based company tried to refinance its debts with several banks. In May, the Fansteel board of directors replaced its top executives with a team of professionals that developed a turnaround plan, which was presented to regional banking lender Fifth Third Bank. Los Angeles-based credit fund TerraMar Capital later stepped in and purchased the debt from Fifth Third.

Golfsmith International Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy, hoping to reorganize or attract a buyer who can save the golf-gear retailer as the sport’s popularity fades in North America, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Golfsmith listed debt and assets of as much as $500 million each in its chapter filing yesterday, and said that it would try to sell part of the chain as a going concern while shutting some stores. If that fails, the Austin, Texas-based company will liquidate, according to a resolution by Golfsmith directors included in the chapter 11 filing. The company blamed an aggressive plan that began in 2011 to open bigger stores that cost more to operate just as golf began to lose popularity.

Denver-based Battalion Resources LLC has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing liabilities of about $83.4 million, the Denver Business Journal reported today. Associated with Battalion’s voluntary bankruptcy petition, filed Sept. 8, are the chapter 11 bankruptcies of three Storm Cat Energy subsidiaries. Battalion said in its petition to the court that its principal assets were in Sheridan and Campbell counties in Wyoming, and said its total assets had a value of $3.5 million. It listed total liabilities at $83.4 million, of which $39.9 million was owed to secured creditors, according to the petition. Battalion also said in court filings it had sold “substantially all” of its assets to Powder River Holdings as of Aug. 2. The company indicated in its petition that after administrative expenses are paid, there won’t be any money left to repay unsecured creditors. It estimated that its creditors numbered between 1,000 and 5,000. Read more. 

Get a better understanding of what happens when an oil, gas or other natural resources company goes bankrupt. Order your copy of ABI's revised and expanded When Gushers Go Dry: The Essentials of Oil & Gas Bankruptcy, Second Edition. 

Global Geophysical Services LLC, a seismic-data provider for the oil industry, filed for chapter 11 protection yesterday and will go out of business, less than two years after the company emerged from an earlier trip through bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Sean Gore, the company’s chief executive officer, blamed stubbornly low oil prices for its failure. Although benchmark U.S. oil prices have rebounded to more than $40 a barrel since hitting a 13-year low in February, they are still well below the $115 per barrel producers were getting as recently as the summer of 2014. The company, based in Missouri City, Texas, filed for chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Corpus Christi, listing assets and debts each in the range of $100 million to $500 million. Read more. (Subscription required.) 

Get the knowledge you need when an oil, gas or other natural resources company goes bankrupt. Order your copy of ABI's revised and expanded When Gushers Go Dry: The Essentials of Oil & Gas Bankruptcy, Second Edition. 

International Shipholding Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday, unable to sell off assets quickly enough to hold its lenders at bay, the Wall Street Journal reported today. For more than a year, the Mobile, Ala., company has been negotiating with lenders for time to fix its overloaded balance sheet. The company has lined up $16 million in bankruptcy financing to support its efforts to restructure under court protection. International Shipholding has been reining in and selling off businesses, such as its dry bulk carrying unit, hoping to reorganize around the most profitable lines. At the end of first quarter 2016, sales and payments had chopped funded debt to $117 million, down from $243 million at the end of 2014, court papers say. Asset sales continue, but they aren’t bringing in the money International Shipholding needs to comply with liquidity covenants with lenders. The company lost $8.4 million in the first quarter of 2016, following a loss of nearly $180 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2015.

C&J Energy Services Ltd. filed for chapter 11 protection yesterday with an agreement with its lenders to swap $1.4 billion in debt for ownership of the reorganized company, Reuters reported. Hamilton, Bermuda-based C&J drills wells and provides related services, and the filing comes four months after founder and Chief Executive Officer Josh Comstock died unexpectedly at age 46. C&J joins more than 100 energy producers and service companies that have filed for bankruptcy in the past two years after a debt-funded boom turned to bust when oil prices collapsed. The company filed for bankruptcy in Houston to implement an agreement reached with lenders who hold 83 percent of its credit facility debt, according to a company statement. Under a previously disclosed plan, lenders will receive all the stock in a reorganized C&J, subject to dilution for management incentive awards. Read more. 

Get a better understanding of what happens when an oil, gas or other natural resources company goes bankrupt. Order your copy of ABI's revised and expanded When Gushers Go Dry: The Essentials of Oil & Gas Bankruptcy, Second Edition.