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Aruze Gaming America — the slot machine developer behind Shoot to Win Craps, Go Go Claw and other electronic table games — will close its Las Vegas headquarters next month and lay off 100 workers, according to a notice filed with the state, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. The closure is expected to be effective Aug. 18, according to a required notice to the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. Few other details were immediately available. Aruze representatives did not respond to additional questions about the closure by the time of publication. The closure comes roughly six months after the equipment manufacturer filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company said at the time that the filing was part of its efforts to restructure financially because of “external factors outside (their) control.” It listed a “garnishment judgment against Aruze resulting from a separate judgment against Aruze’s shareholder.”

A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Friday said she would not allow slot machine operator Lucky Bucks to settle legal claims arising out of a $250 million dividend to insiders, siding with noteholders who are seeking to claw back those payments, Reuters reported. The noteholders, including investment managers BC Partners, Marathon Asset Management and Monarch Alternative Capital, said that Lucky Bucks should not be allowed to settle their claims for a mere $15 million. They asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Karen Owens in Wilmington, Del., to liquidate Lucky Bucks Holdings, the corporate parent company that sold them their notes, and separate it from the reorganization of the operating company Lucky Bucks LLC. Owens agreed, ruling that Lucky Bucks Holdings could be converted to a chapter 7 liquidation because it had no creditors other than the aggrieved noteholders. Those noteholders have already voted to reject the company’s chapter 11 settlement, making a chapter 11 reorganization impossible, she said. Judge Owens delayed her ruling from immediately taking effect, however, saying that a premature chapter 7 conversion of the parent company might trigger change-in-control regulations that would make it harder for the operating subsidiary to maintain its slot machine licenses.

Luxury cruise company Vantage Deluxe World Travel is filing for bankruptcy and selling its operation, amid ongoing investigations, lawsuits, and hundreds of consumer complaints, Boston25news.com reported. The company announced on June 29 that it filed for chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts and agreed to be acquired by United Travel Pte. Ltd., an affiliate of Nordic Hamburg and Heritage Expeditions. Vantage laid off its employees June 20, weeks after Consumer Rescue first reported the company quietly postponed all its cruises through Aug. 28. Consumer Rescue provided Boston 25 an email that shows Vantage was still contacting its customers about future trips as recently as June 26. he Mass. Attorney General’s Office says it received 1,120 consumer complaints about Vantage since Jan. 1, 2020, including 478 complaints filed in 2023. 108 complaints came from Bay State residents. The AG’s Consumer Advocacy and Response Division said it had recovered more than $1.2 million for Vantage customers. The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office filed a lawsuit against Vantage earlier this month, accusing the company of “deceptive and unfair business practices” and taking advantage of older residents “by continuing to hold their refunds hostage.”

National CineMedia LLC said on Tuesday that it would emerge from chapter 11 on or around August or September as its reorganization plan has been confirmed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Southern District of Texas, Reuters reported. The biggest movie-theater advertising firm in North America will maintain its existing corporate structure with listed holding company National CineMedia Inc. after emerging from bankruptcy protection. National CineMedia LLC had filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April and said it had entered into a restructuring agreement with its lenders, underscoring the challenges facing the cinema industry, which is yet to bounce back from the pandemic slump. The company will also enter into a $55 million exit financing facility, which it would use to fund operations and growth initiatives. Its existing management team will continue to lead the reorganized company.