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The operator of the former Bell Bank Park sports complex in Mesa, Ariz., filed for bankruptcy more than a year after opening, seeking a sale to repay roughly $300 million in defaulted municipal debt, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Legacy Cares, the nonprofit operator of the 320-acre sports complex, filed for chapter 11 on Monday, saying in court filings that it would seek to sell its assets, which are “severely underwater.” It listed $242 million worth of assets and over $366 million of liabilities in its filings with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Phoenix. The nonprofit, which had borrowed in the municipal bond market to build the park, defaulted on its interest payments last year. Revenue fell far short of projections, and Legacy Cares recently hired restructuring firm Miller Buckfire to consider options. The park loses roughly $1 million a month on its operations, a burn rate that will only increase as it approaches the summer, its slowest part of the year, according to Legacy Cares’ court papers. It has lined up a $9 million loan from UMB Bank NA, the trustee for municipal bondholders, to fund the expenses of the chapter 11 case.

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.

Bell Bank Park, an Arizona sports complex that opened last year, has hired a financial adviser to address a shortfall in revenue and a default on its tax-exempt municipal debt last year, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The 320-acre sports complex has hired investment bank Miller Buckfire & Co. and replaced Legacy Sports USA, the manager of the money-losing facility, according to a regulatory filing posted Tuesday to Electronic Municipal Market Access. Miller Buckfire will explore options for the sports complex, including a sale, according to the filing. Legacy Cares Inc., the nonprofit that borrowed $280 million to build the park, brought on Miller Buckfire after falling far short of revenue projections and defaulting on interest payments last year, according to people familiar with the matter. Bell Bank Park brought in only $15 million in revenue for the first six months after opening. It had originally projected $125 million for that period. Since its opening, the park has been managed by Legacy Sports USA, a for-profit firm. Legacy Cares disclosed Tuesday that a new manager, Elite Sports Group LLC, will replace Legacy Sports USA.

Cineworld said today that it had filed a reorganization plan in a Texas bankruptcy court that will effectively wipe out existing shareholdings, sending its stock to an all-time low, Reuters reported. The filing formalizes a deal laid out on April 3 that includes plans to cut debt by about $4.53 billion and raise $2.26 billion in funds to emerge from bankruptcy. It does not provide for any recovery for its existing shareholders, the group said. Shares in the world's second-largest cinema chain operator fell to 1.5 pence on Tuesday, and have lost more than 99% since it listed in 2007. Cineworld, which placed a majority of its business under U.S. chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September, last week dropped plans to sell its businesses in the U.S., the UK, and Ireland after failing to find a buyer.The group's chapter 11 companies are seeking to confirm the plan on an "expeditious timeline", Cineworld said, adding that it continues to operate its global business and cinemas as usual without interruption.

Cineworld Group Plc is set to submit its bankruptcy-exit plan on Wednesday after reaching a deal with creditors to trim billions of dollars of debt from its balance sheet, according to a lawyer for the company, Bloomberg News reported. Cineworld expects to file the plan alongside a restructuring support agreement — a deal in which a troubled company’s key creditors agree to back a debt-cutting proposal. Both agreements should be filed publicly on Wednesday, Josh Sussberg, a bankruptcy lawyer for Cineworld, said in a court hearing Tuesday. “We are down to literally dotting ‘i’s and crossing ‘t’s,” Sussberg said. He didn’t provide further details on the plan. The world’s second-largest theater chain, which owns Regal Cinemas in the US, has struggled to find buyers for the whole company in recent months. It has received no bids that come close to covering Cineworld’s $6 billion in outstanding secured debt, Sussberg said. A sale process for the holding company has effectively “been terminated,” he added. However, there are several potential buyers interested in the company’s operations in eastern Europe and Israel, he said. Binding bids for that portion of the firm are due on April 10.

Shares of AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc jumped as much as 21% on Tuesday, following a report that ecommerce giant Amazon.com Inc was looking to buy the theater chain, Reuters reported. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has dispatched his investment advisers and top entertainment chiefs to explore acquisition plans for AMC, entertainment industry news website The Intersect reported, citing sources familiar with the discussions. Amazon last year closed its $8.5 billion deal for MGM, adding the company behind "Rocky" and James Bond in a bid to beef up its Prime Video streaming service amid intensifying competition. Movie theaters are struggling to draw in crowds since the lifting of pandemic restrictions, as rising costs force people to cut spending on out-of-home entertainment and more on groceries and rent. "We do not think that AMC is a likely acquisition target in general given its massive debt and inflated valuation," said Wedbush Securities. The brokerage said the online retailer would be better off buying United Kingdom's Cineworld Group Plc, which filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection in September.

One of the Pittsburgh region’s largest minority-owned businesses has filed for bankruptcy protection at the same time that it faces a sexual harassment lawsuit involving a minor, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. Rice Enterprises, the operator of eight McDonald’s locations across the Pittsburgh region, filed the chapter 11 petition last week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The documents signed by Rice Enterprises LLC’s sole member, Michele Rice, show that the bankruptcy was filed to preserve the company’s franchise agreements and leases. It is also to “restructure its debt obligations, provide breathing space, time to reduce litigation expenses and maximize the value of its estate.” The attorney representing Rice Enterprises, Kirk Burkley of the Pittsburgh law firm Bernstein-Burkley, P.C., said the bankruptcy filing will not affect the restaurants’ operations and all 435 jobs are safe.