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Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group said yesterday it reached a new purchase agreement with its secured lenders, in a move that would help kick-start the bidding process for the financially strapped circus troupe, Reuters reported. The Cirque said in a statement that it entered into a new stalking-horse purchase agreement with its first-lien and second-lien secured lenders, confirming earlier reports. The Montreal-based Cirque, which grew from a troupe of street-performers in the 1980s to a company with global reach, has slashed about 95 percent of its workforce and suspended shows due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The creditors’ agreement replaces an earlier deal with Cirque shareholders including TPG Capital and Fosun International Ltd which included debt financing from a Quebec government body. A court in the Canadian province of Quebec will be asked on Friday to approve the stalking-horse agreement, which is an opening offer that other interested bidders must surpass if they want to buy the company. The deal allows the creditors to acquire the Cirque’s assets while largely cutting down the company debt, the statement said. Cirque has $1.1 billion in debt across first-lien and second-lien creditors.

RSG Group GmbH, operator of Germany’s McFit fitness clubs, has won an auction to acquire Gold’s Gym International Inc. out of bankruptcy for $100 million, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The pending sale, which must be approved in bankruptcy court, puts Gold’s Gym on a path to leave chapter 11 with 61 corporate-owned gyms, about 600 franchise gyms and less debt, positioning it to withstand major disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the company said yesterday. One of Europe’s largest gym operators, RSG Group topped an initial $80 million offer from TRT Holdings Inc., a holding company led by billionaire Robert Rowling that acquired a majority stake in Gold’s Gym in 2004. Gold’s Gym went to auction as creditors asked the company to canvass the market after receiving expressions of interest from other parties. RSG Group’s McFit fitness clubs have more than 250 locations in Germany, Austria, Poland, Spain and Italy, according to the company’s website. The gym operator also owns several other brands, including the John Reed and John & Jane’s fitness clubs, and said it has expanded this year into the U.S., Turkey and France. The deal would ensure that Gold’s Gym survives the coronavirus pandemic under new ownership. The company filed for chapter 11 protection in May after it was forced to close its gyms because of COVID-19. The pandemic has been particularly challenging on the U.S. fitness industry which has been attempting to safely reopen gyms in states and counties that allow it.

Apex Linen Service LLC, a private-equity-backed provider of dry cleaning and laundry services to Las Vegas hotels and casinos, has filed for bankruptcy, blaming the havoc that the coronavirus pandemic has created in the travel business, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. “The sharp decline in tourism due to the closure of Las Vegas hotels and casinos for months caused a precipitous drop in demand” for the laundering of bed linens, towels and employee uniforms, and for guest dry cleaning, Apex Managing Member Chris Bryan said on Thursday in a court filing. As a result, Apex, which had $21.3 million in revenue last year, temporarily shut down operations. The fallout from COVID-19 constrained the company’s liquidity and caused defaults under its lending agreements, Apex lawyer Harley Goldstein told The Wall Street Journal. Apex and its lenders began discussions as the liquidity crisis worsened, but weren’t able to reach consensus, prompting the chapter 11 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., said Mr. Goldstein, of the law firm Goldstein & McClintock LLLP. The company, which restarted operations as Las Vegas hotels have begun reopening, expects to reorganize and continue serving customers in an improved economy, Goldstein said. Apex entered bankruptcy with about $200,000 in cash on hand. The company expects to arrange additional funding shortly to help it get through bankruptcy, and alternatives for its leaving bankruptcy, such as a sale or debt-for-equity swap, are also being discussed, Goldstein said.

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. and bondholders agreed to a debt overhaul that provides cash and time to repay its borrowings while it tries to withstand the shuttering of its movie theaters amid the pandemic, Bloomberg News reported. The company is asking holders of existing subordinated notes to swap for new second-lien secured notes due 2026 that would pay interest as 10 percent cash or 12 percent in the form of more notes. The offer covers four sets of existing notes that mature in 2024 through 2027, AMC said. Participants can also subscribe for a pro rata portion of new 10.5 percent first lien secured notes due 2026 that total $200 million. Silver Lake, the private equity firm that holds a board seat, also agreed to buy an additional $100 million of the new first lien notes at 90 percent of face value, less a 2 percent arranger premium, AMC said. The plan has support from investors who hold 73 percent of the principal of existing notes, which also represent a majority of the holders of each series of notes, AMC said. It extended the deal’s deadline until July 24.

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. is set to announce a deal with bondholders that would allow private equity firm Silver Lake to jump up the repayment-priority line, setting the stage for another credit-market brawl as companies dealing with the fallout of COVID-19 seek to restructure their debts, Bloomberg News reported. The transaction, which is expected to launch in the coming days, would provide $200 million of new money and see subordinated bondholders exchange their securities at a discount for new second-lien notes, according to people with knowledge of the situation. It will also extend the maturity on $600 million of convertible bonds held by Silver Lake for two years in exchange for first-lien priority on certain collateral. A group of existing first-lien lenders including Apollo Global Management Inc., Ares Management Corp. and Eaton Vance Corp. are opposing the deal, arguing it benefits certain creditors over others at the expense of the company, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing a private matter. The cinema chain has been trying to hash out an accord for weeks as it looks to raise cash, manage its more than $5 billion debt burden and avoid a potential bankruptcy.

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. is nearing a restructuring deal that would help stave off a near-term bankruptcy filing while turning down a competing financing offer from senior lenders including Apollo Global Management Inc., WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The proposed deal, which could be announced within days, would require bondholders to provide a $200 million senior loan and to swap their unsecured claims at a discount for new, second-lien debt, people familiar with the matter said. Private-equity firm Silver Lake Group LLC, which has a representative on the company’s board and owns $600 million of convertible bonds, would swap for first-lien debt. Senior lenders including Apollo, Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP and Ares Management Corp. have pushed back against the proposal, which would allow Silver Lake to share in the collateral pledged to them. The group, which is represented by law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, submitted a counterproposal in recent days in which they offered to inject an additional $200 million in senior debt financing, on top of $200 million supplied by junior bondholders. As a condition of the counteroffer, the senior lenders wanted Silver Lake blocked from swapping into the top-ranking debt and subordinated beneath the senior loans in the payment line.

Now that Minor League Baseball has canceled its season 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, its teams face 19 months without revenue, which may lead to team sales or bankruptcies, the Tampa (Fla.) Business Journal reported. Last week, MiLB announced the cancelation of its 2020 season as the COVID-19 pandemic would keep fans from attending games. The lost season goes beyond a lack of games or even play experience for minor leaguers. The league’s cancelation came just before teams were expecting a huge financial windfall generated from the 2020 season. Now without the season, MiLB teams will go about 19 months without playing a game or generating revenue. Jeff Lantz, senior director of communications for St. Petersburg-based MiLB, said that he knew of very few business models that could withstand 19 months with little to no revenue. It especially hurts MiLB as it functions under razor-thin profit margins and has the length of its season, five months, to generate all the revenue needed to operate for the seven-month offseason. Unlike MLB, minor league teams never had the possibility of playing in empty stadiums as a majority of their revenue comes from ticket sales and stadium purchases. Lantz called games without fans a "nonstarter." The league has applied for federal loans to help its teams survive the play stoppage, Lantz said. Another issue for some minor league teams is the possible contraction of the league. As MiLB negotiates its Professional Baseball Agreement with MLB, about 40 teams are potentially on the chopping block as the major league looks to streamline the minors.

Pizza Hut, Ponderosa & Bonanza Steakhouses and other restaurant chains have roped off their buffets to prevent contamination and crowding as they seek to reopen dining rooms during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wall Street Journal reported. And grocery stores such as Whole Foods Market and Wegmans Food Markets Inc. have kept hot-food bars closed since March, until lately a growing part of the business and a draw for customers. Now, those sales have plummeted given the risk of self-service food. Health officials have advised suspending self-service food stations because they lead to crowding of customers and repeated touching of utensils. Restaurants are trying to restore dine-in service in states where they still can, and grocers are starting to return some features common before the pandemic, including sampling and prepackaged meals. But they say many buffets and salad-bar stations are unlikely to return soon, if ever. Without a clear way to move to a takeout model, Garden Fresh Restaurants, owner of around 100 Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes buffet-focused restaurants, filed for bankruptcy in May. “Our sales collapsed,” said John Haywood, Garden Fresh’s pre-bankruptcy chief executive. (Subscription required.)

Luxury Dining Group, owner of the Fig & Olive chain of high-end restaurants with sites in New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, filed for bankruptcy protection, blaming employee lawsuits and the pandemic, Bloomberg News reported. Majority owner Guillaume Fonkenell will work with company managers to decide which of the nine restaurants are still viable and could eventually turn a profit, according to court papers filed in New York on Friday. The company faces lawsuits related to a Salmonella outbreak that hit its Washington, D.C., and Melrose Place locations. The chapter 11 cases “were precipitated by certain accumulated losses and a series of employment related litigations, with their situation exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis, forcing each of the restaurants to temporarily close,” the company said in court papers. With time and continued funding from Fonkenell, Fig & Olive can reorganize successfully, Luxury Dining Group said. The company has laid off more than 700 workers and currently has only 34 employees.