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Global A&T Electronics, a Singapore-based chip assembler that took on hefty debt a decade ago through a buyout by TPG Capital and Affinity Equity Partners, filed for bankruptcy as a 2013 debt exchange came back to haunt it, Bloomberg News reported. The chip-assembler listed debt of more than $1 billion and assets of over $500 million in chapter 11 papers filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. Pursued by bondholders since 2014, when a GSO Capital Partners fund and others cried foul over the debt exchange, Global A&T finally seemed to put the problem behind it when it announced a settlement in mid-September. At the same time, other bondholders had come forward to say they weren’t giving up their own lawsuit over the debt exchange, brought in 2017.

Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council, a top advisory body to the government, has approved a draft bankruptcy law in a step towards modernising the economy and boosting growth in the private sector, Reuters reported. The draft law, consisting of 231 articles in 17 chapters, regulates bankruptcy procedures such as settlements and liquidation, for individuals as well as local and foreign companies. It did not say when the law would be approved by the cabinet and promulgated, but Minister of Commerce and Investment Majid bin Abdullah al-Qasabi said in September that it was expected to take effect by the end of the first quarter of 2018.

Debt-laden Brazilian telecommunications firm Oi SA has reached a deal with two major creditor groups on a plan to recover the company from bankruptcy protection, the telecom said in a securities filing, Reuters reported. Oi said that the international bondholder committee and “ad hoc creditor group” had agreed in principle on a new restructuring plan announced yesterday, including a debt-for-equity swap that would effectively let creditors take over the company.

Phoenix Solar, once one of Germany’s largest solar groups during the sector’s heyday, on Friday said it would file for insolvency next week after an unnamed U.S. customer demanded payments that exceed the group’s funds, Reuters reported. “Following the drawdown of project-related letters of credit in the amount of approximately $8 million by a large customer of Phoenix Solar Inc. ... the parent company Phoenix Solar AG is obligated to reimburse the issuing banks immediately under its existing financing agreements,” Phoenix Solar said. “Attempts by the company’s management to find a solution with the said U.S. customer and the company’s banking consortium in Germany have failed,” it added. The news comes only months after larger peer SolarWorld filed for insolvency, overwhelmed by a renewed wave of cheap Chinese exports that was caused by reduced ambitions in China to expand solar power generation.

Baha Mar's sale to Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE) was completed by the December 1 closing deadline, the Bahamas Tribune reported. Meeting the December 1 deadline was critical, as failure to hit it would have seen the tax breaks and incentives — originally granted by the former Christie administration to the China Export-Import Bank — fall away. The previously-sealed 'Heads of Terms' for Baha Mar's construction completion, disclosed earlier this year, revealed that CTFE's purchase closing deadline had been extended to December 1, 2017, from November 22, 2017. This was done via a letter signed by Creswell Sturrup, then-permanent secretary in the Prime Minister's Office, which was attached as an amendment to the 'Heads of Terms.'

A New York bankruptcy judge delivered an unambiguous rebuke of Aurelius Capital Management LP’s litigation strategy in the complex and contentious international restructuring of Brazilian telecom giant Oi SA, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. In a decision handed down on Monday, Judge Sean Lane of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York declined to recognize a chapter 15 U.S. bankruptcy proceeding launched earlier this year by an Oi affiliate based in the Netherlands. The judge said that Aurelius “weaponized” the Dutch affiliate to attack Oi’s broader restructuring goals. “In sum, the strategy pursued by Aurelius in these cases is a troubling one that the court refuses to countenance,” Judge Lane wrote. “Aurelius’ actions also reflect a lack of candor before the court,” he added.

Toys R Us UK is to seek creditor approval for a restructuring plan involving closing at least 26 of its 105 stores in Britain in 2018, Reuters reported today. The British arm of Toys R Us Inc. of the United States which filed for bankruptcy in September, said that it had submitted a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) plan to its creditors and would seek their approval in the next 17 days. Toys R Us UK said that if approved by the creditors the CVA plan would substantially reduce its rental obligations and allow the business to move to a new, viable business model. The firm said it anticipated redundancies among its workforce of 3,200 but did not give a specific number. Toys R Us UK said that all its stores would remain open as normal through Christmas and into the new year.