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Peabody Creditors Back Plan to Cut over $5 Billion of Debt

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Leading global coal producer Peabody Energy said that its main creditors support a plan to wipe more than $5 billion of debt from its balance sheet and exit the largest energy-related U.S. bankruptcy this year, Reuters reported yesterday. Under a reorganization plan filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in St. Louis, Peabody said that it expects to cut its debt to $1.95 billion from more than $8 billion when it emerges from chapter 11 in the second quarter of 2017. The company's plan contemplates a $750 million rights offering, a $750 million private placement and the issuance of new common stock. The company said that it has the support of the vast majority of its creditors. Peabody filed for bankruptcy in April.

Energy Future, Senior Creditors Reach $800 Million Bankruptcy Deal

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Energy Future Holdings Corp. and its senior creditors agreed to an $800 million deal aimed at bringing the owner of Texas's largest network of power lines works out of chapter 11 next year, according to a securities filing yesterday, Reuters reported. The deal follows a federal appeals court ruling in November that found Dallas-based Energy Future was liable for paying hundreds of millions of dollars in early redemption premiums, or make-whole claims, to its first-lien and second-lien noteholders. In response, Energy Future rewrote its bankruptcy exit plan to shift the cost of the ruling to junior creditors by reducing their payouts. Under the terms of the settlement, Energy Future agreed to pay its first-lien noteholders 95 percent of their make-whole claims if junior creditors back the new bankruptcy plan, according to the filing. Double-digit interest continues to accrue on the make-wholes, and Energy Future estimated the first-lien claim to be worth $574 million if the company exited bankruptcy in April. The company agreed to pay second-lien noteholders 87.5 percent of their estimated make-whole claim of $244.6 million.
 

Flying Star Owners Win Creditor Approval

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Almost two years after Flying Star filed for bankruptcy protection, its owners have earned creditor approval to move the company forward, the Albuquerque (N.M.) Journal reported on Saturday. Jean and Mark Bernstein still need a bankruptcy judge’s order to execute their reorganization plan, but it received a critical endorsement from creditors in a recent vote. Every class of creditors in the Chapter 11 case either actively voted to approve the plan or was deemed to have accepted by not casting ballots, according to a tally report the Bernsteins filed in court this week. Confirmation will allow the Bernsteins to initiate their plan to keep control of the company by buying all Flying Star equity at auction for at least $2.8 million. There was a creditor-backed plan to sell the company to Southwest Brands, which owns Garduño’s and Keva Juice. But the creditors committee recently withdrew that plan after negotiations that led the Bernsteins to dramatically increase their own bid.

New Jersey Shipping Firm Can Leave Bankruptcy

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Bankruptcy Judge Stacey Meisel ruled that New Jersey shipping firm that once relied heavily on business from fast-fashion retailer Forever 21 Inc. can emerge from bankruptcy protection after downsizing operations, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Company executives for EZ Worldwide Express on Friday received permission from Judge Meisel to put a debt-repayment plan for the Elizabeth, N.J., business into action, court papers show. EZ Worldwide Express filed for chapter 11 protection on Jan. 13, saying that its shipping contract with Forever 21 was unprofitable. EZ Worldwide once delivered garments to 171 Forever 21 stores but now ships to a smaller footprint of 34 stores.

SFX Entertainment Emerges From Bankruptcy with New Name

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For the last two years, one of the most arresting stories in the concert business has been the decline of SFX Entertainment, which tried to build a global network of dance-music festivals but collapsed and went bankrupt, the New York Times DealBook reported yesterday. SFX emerged from bankruptcy protection last week, with its debt load reduced by about $400 million, and this week it announced a new name and leadership. The new company, LiveStyle, will be led by Randy Phillips, the former chief executive of the concert company AEG Live, and there will be a commitment to something akin to its original mission of being “the world’s largest electronic music event producer,” according to the announcement, though it offered few other details. According to its statement, LiveStyle will be based in Los Angeles and retain control of some of SFX’s flagship properties, including the Tomorrowland and Electric Zoo festivals, as well as the online music store Beatport and the ticketing service Paylogic.