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Managers of FTX are suing a company affiliate based in the Bahamas, seeking a bankruptcy court ruling to end a dispute with liquidators there over who should control and distribute assets of the failed cryptocurrency exchange, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The managers said in their complaint they are suing because of “serial threats” by the liquidators of affiliate FTX Digital Markets Ltd. to try to move FTX’s bankruptcy proceedings to the Bahamas to pursue the company’s cash, crypto and other assets there. FTX filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November at odds with the Bahamian liquidators of FTX Digital Markets over control of the company’s business and an unknown amount of digital currency. The liquidators and FTX had cooled tensions in January, agreeing to share information and secure and distribute assets belonging to company entities in the Bahamas and abroad. But in their lawsuit filed Sunday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., FTX’s U.S. managers said the liquidators “continue to cast confusion” over of the company’s property.

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.

U.S. subsidiaries of Australian coal mining company Allegiance Coal Ltd. filed for chapter 11 protection on Tuesday, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The chapter 11 filing includes the New Elk and Black Warrior coal mines located in Colorado and Alabama, respectively, according to papers filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., by Allegiance Coal USA Ltd. The Australian parent company said last week that it is switching away from the production of thermal coal because of a decline in prices for thermal coal delivered to Europe. Instead the company said it is ramping up production of metallurgical coal.

Key Cineworld Group Plc lenders are considering a rights offering for the world’s second-largest theater chain to help it emerge from bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported. Some creditors have recently discussed a share sale that could raise $800 million — open only to existing lenders — for Cineworld as part of a restructuring plan, the people said, asking not to be named because the talks are private. The final size of any issuance depends on creditor appetite and how much debt the restructured company is deemed able to carry following its bankruptcy. Discussions are ongoing and no final decisions have been reached, they added. The restructured business could be valued at about $4 billion including debt. London-based Cineworld filed for chapter 11 protection in Texas in September, after COVID-19 shutdowns hampered income and delayed movie releases, forcing it to reckon with a heavy debt load. The chain’s nearly $9 billion of liabilities including leases came in large part from its blockbuster acquisition of U.S. brand Regal Cinemas in 2018. In a bankruptcy hearing Wednesday, a lawyer for Cineworld said the company recently received a proposal from lenders, but didn’t disclose precise terms and added that the company, rather than its lenders, gets to chart its path out of chapter 11 protection. Cineworld has recently received “a lot of interest” in its assets from potential buyers, the lawyer, Josh Sussberg, said.

Brazilian hedge fund manager SPX Capital is among asset management firms taking the lead in a group of local bondholders of troubled retailer Americanas SA organizing for restructuring negotiations, Bloomberg News reported. SPX, XP Asset Management, Riza, Icatu Vanguarda, Prada, Moneda and Exes were appointed as members of the committee that will represent a group of holders of the firm’s domestic debt, according to a document reviewed by Bloomberg. The group also approved hiring law firm E.Munhoz Advogados as its legal adviser, according to minutes from a Feb. 6 meeting. Americanas filed for bankruptcy protection last month, just days after finding 20 billion reais ($3.9 billion) of “accounting inconsistencies” that artificially boosted its profits and reduced reported liabilities. SPX, one of Brazil’s largest independent hedge fund managers with over 76 billion reais in assets, hired Albano Franco from Banco BTG Pactual’s asset-management unit in 2019 to build out its credit venture. Earlier this week, another Brazilian hedge-fund power house — Verde Asset Management — said it was stung by the rout in Americanas’ local notes. The firm said exposure to local bonds brought a 14 basis-point loss to its flagship fund last month, trimming January gains to 2.7%.