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A judge has approved oil and gas drilling company PetroQuest Energy Inc.’s plan to exit bankruptcy, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Judge David R. Jones of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston said yesterday that he would confirm PetroQuest’s chapter 11 plan, which the company has said will trim approximately $204.5 million in debt from its balance sheet. A lawyer for PetroQuest said that the company anticipates emerging from bankruptcy in early February. PetroQuest resolved a handful of outstanding disputes with stakeholders before the start of yesterday’s hearing. The company filed for chapter 11 protection in November with a deal in hand with its bondholders. The plan swaps out bond debt for equity in the reorganized company and provides a pool of $1.2 million for unsecured creditors. Existing stock in PetroQuest will be cancelled when it leaves bankruptcy, which is common in chapter 11 restructurings. PetroQuest has said that it faced financial headwinds in part because of a persistent downturn in the price of natural gas. The company sold its oil and gas assets in Oklahoma and east Texas in 2015 and 2016 and assets in the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year. It executed two debt exchanges in 2016.

A bankruptcy court judge yesterday confirmed iHeartMedia Inc.’s restructuring plan, which allows the company to slash its debt load and hand over control to a group of bondholders, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The decision by Judge Marvin Isgur in Houston allows the country’s biggest radio-station operator to bring to a close a nearly three-year restructuring journey and almost a year in chapter 11. The restructuring plan reduces its debt from $16.1 billion to $5.75 billion and hands over ownership of the company to a group of bondholders led by Franklin Advisers Inc. after about a decade of control by private-equity firms Bain Capital Partners LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP. The company is expected to exit bankruptcy sometime in the second quarter, considering a slight delay in getting regulatory approvals because of the government shutdown, said Benjamin Rhode, of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, iHeartMedia’s lawyer.

David's Bridal, one of the largest wedding dress retailers nationally, announced on Friday that it had emerged from chapter 11 protection poised for long-term growth, the Houston Chronicle reported. The Pennsylvania company, which filed for bankruptcy protection in November, said that it successfully completed its financial restructuring without closing any of its 300 stores. David's Bridal, which started as a small bridal shop in Florida, has struggled to compete in recent years as millennials are marrying later and some opt for less traditional wedding attire as more casual ceremonies have come en vogue. The company said it planned to lure back customers by offering more affordable dresses in a wider assortment of sizes, both in-store and online. The retailer also said it would host special events with top wedding experts at its stores nationwide to help brides plan their weddings.