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OneWeb, the satellite firm rescued by the British government and India’s Bharti Group, resumed flights on Friday in its push to provide global broadband coverage as 36 of its satellites blasted off into orbit from Russia’s Far East, Reuters reported. The launch carried out by Arianespace and its Starsem affiliate was the first fully commercial flight from Russia’s new Vostochny cosmodrome, Russia’s Roscosmos space corporation said. “The Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle together with a Fregat booster and 36 @OneWeb communication satellites lifted off from the #Vostochny cosmodrome,” it tweeted. The launch will expand OneWeb’s number of in-orbit satellites to 110, part of a low earth orbit fleet of 648 designed to establish a high-speed, low-latency global connectivity, the satellite operator said.

Norwegian Air’s shareholders endorsed the carrier’s financial rescue plan in a series of votes today, the airline said, one of several hurdles the company must clear to survive the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reported. Norwegian faces difficult negotiations with creditors in the coming months as it seeks to reduce its debt and liabilities of some 66.8 billion crowns ($7.75 billion). It must also find investors and lenders willing to put up fresh cash. The airline obtained creditor protection this month from courts in Norway and Ireland, giving it some breathing space as it seeks to convert debt into equity. The company aims, with the help of the courts, to emerge by Feb. 26 as a smaller but more efficient carrier with fewer aircraft, less debt and more equity. More than 80 percent of Norwegian’s owners voted in favour of letting the board raise up to 4 billion Norwegian crowns from a sale of shares or hybrid instruments. If it fails, Norwegian has said it could run out of cash by the end of March.

Norwegian Air was given additional creditor protection by a court in Norway yesterday on top of that granted by an Irish judge on Monday, allowing the cash-strapped airline’s restructuring efforts to continue, Reuters reported. “A supplementary reconstruction process under Norwegian law will be to the benefit of all parties and will increase the likelihood of a successful result,” Chief Executive Jacob Schram said. The company, which helped transform transatlantic travel, expanding the European budget airline business model to longer-haul destinations, has been forced to ground all but six of its 140 aircraft amid the COVID-19 pandemic. If successful in convincing creditors and owners of its future potential, Norwegian could, with the help of the courts, emerge as a smaller but more efficient carrier with fewer aircraft, less debt and more equity. The airline, which has said it could run out of cash by the end of the first quarter of next year, aims to complete the debt restructuring by Feb. 26.

Dominion Diamond Mines ULC said yesterday that it reached a deal to sell its Ekati mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories to holders of its second lien notes, eight months after seeking bankruptcy protection amid a worldwide upheaval in the diamond industry, Reuters reported. Closely held Dominion, owned by the Washington Companies, filed for creditor protection in April, citing disruption to the global diamond trade caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic. Under the deal, which is subject to court approval, an entity controlled by DDJ Capital Management and Brigade Capital Management will acquire nearly all of Dominion’s assets in exchange for the assumption of $70 million in debt, Dominion said in a statement. The deal does not include Dominion’s 40 percent stake in global miner Rio Tinto’s nearby Diavik mine, which is the subject of a separate dispute between the companies. Calgary-based Dominion said the bidders would provide $70 million in working capital, with operations at the Ekati mine restarting no later than Jan. 29, 2021.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said yesterday the conduct of directors of the collapsed fashion group Arcadia would be examined, Reuters reported. “The secretary of state for business, enterprise and skills (Alok Sharma) has written to the Insolvency Service to look at the conduct of the Arcadia directors,” Johnson told parliament. Arcadia, owned by Philip Green, entered administration on Monday, threatening 13,000 jobs. “We will be doing everything we can to restore the high streets of this country,” Johnson added. Sharma said he had asked the regulator to review a report from Arcadia’s administrators as soon as they received it.

Norwegian Air proposed today to convert debt to equity, offload planes and sell new shares in an attempt to survive the COVID-19 pandemic, which has brought the company to its knees, Reuters reported. As part of the plan, the Oslo-based carrier, which recently applied for bankruptcy protection in an Irish court, aims to raise up to 4 billion Norwegian crowns ($455.4 million) from the sale of new shares or hybrid instruments, it said. “The company asks for the continued support of its shareholders to prepare for future capital increases in parallel with the restructuring of its balance sheet,” Norwegian said in a statement. It will also seek to only pay lessors for the use of the aircraft when they are actually in use, by the hour, until 2022. Before the pandemic, Norwegian helped transform transatlantic travel, expanding the European budget airline business model to longer-haul destinations, but also ran up losses each year from 2017 to 2019. By cutting its fleet and reducing its debt load, Norwegian believes it can make itself attractive to new shareholders and potentially attract financial support from Norway’s government, which has so far rejected calls for more aid.

Seadrill Partners LLC said today that it had filed for chapter 11 protection as a means to restructure its debt, in another sign of financial difficulties for the wider Seadrill Ltd oil drilling rig group, Reuters reported. “The company intends to use the bankruptcy process to ensure that all customer, vendor and employee obligations are met without interruption and to complete a consensual restructuring of its debt,” Seadrill Partners said. Seadrill Ltd, which owns 35% of Seadrill Partners, suspended its own interest payments in September after failing to agree amended terms for $5.7 billion of bank debt, and warned that owners may be left with nothing. Founded by Norwegian-born billionaire investor John Fredriksen, the Seadrill group of companies grew to become the world’s most valuable drilling firm before a crash in oil prices in 2014 sent the company into restructuring. Seadrill Ltd emerged from chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018 after converting billions of dollars of bonds into equity, but the group’s bank debt remained.

British tycoon Philip Green’s Arcadia fashion group has collapsed into administration, putting over 13,000 jobs at risk and becoming the country’s biggest corporate casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic so far, administrator Deloitte said yesterday,  Reuters reported. Arcadia owns the Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, Wallis, Miss Selfridge, Evans, Burton and Outfit brands, trading from 444 leased sites in the UK and 22 overseas. Deloitte said that the stores will remain open, or reopen when permitted under the government’s COVID-19 restrictions, and no redundancies were being immediately announced. “We will now work with the existing management team and broader stakeholders to assess all options available for the future of the group’s businesses,” said Matt Smith, joint administrator at Deloitte. He said Deloitte would rapidly seek expressions of interest and expected to identify one or more buyers to ensure the future of the businesses.