The judge overseeing the bankruptcy of Avaya Inc. said yesterday that he would confirm the telecommunication company’s chapter 11 plan, bringing its nearly year-long effort to reorganize its finances effectively to a close. Bankruptcy Judge Stuart Bernstein said at a hearing that he was satisfied with the plan, which marked a third try by the communications software and services provider for a blueprint for emerging from bankruptcy. The plan provides holders of first-lien debt with 90.5 percent of stock in the reorganized company and holders of second-lien notes with a pro rata share of 4 percent of stock and warrants for an additional 5.1 percent of the shares. General unsecured creditors such as vendors will receive $57.5 million in cash, and the government’s pension insurer, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., will receive $340 million in cash and 5.5 percent of shares.
National Air Cargo Inc.’s debt-repayment plan has been approved by a federal judge, clearing the way for the struggling military-transport contractor to emerge from bankruptcy protection after more than three years, the Wall Street Journal reported. Founder Christopher Alf said that he is prepared to put more than $12 million into the upstate New York-based carrier, which filed for bankruptcy in October 2014 after the U.S. military cut back spending on Middle East operations. Mr. Alf and his wife, Lori, own the airline. The proposal from National Air Cargo officials to pay off a portion of the airline’s roughly $12.4 million in debt received approval from Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan, according to a Nov. 9 order signed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Buffalo, N.Y. Company officials said that at least 60 percent of that amount will be paid, but the exact dollar figure hasn’t been disclosed. It is also unclear how much money Mr. Alf will ultimately contribute. Most of National Air Cargo’s debt stemmed from a roughly $10 million legal judgment won by aircraft provider Global BTG LLC in an aircraft-leasing dispute. Global BTG officials sued National Air Cargo in February 2011, saying that the company unfairly walked away from a deal to use eight Boeing 747 cargo planes that was being arranged by Global BTG.
The new management team behind the Original Soupman Inc. is in the midst of cooking up a rebirth of the company after recently emerging from bankruptcy protection, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The soup purveyor, which licenses the recipes, likeness and name of Al Yeganeh, the man who inspired the “Soup Nazi” character on the television show “Seinfeld,” has had a tumultuous year. The company, now based in Eatontown, N.J., but previously of Staten Island, N.Y., sought bankruptcy protection in mid-June as it saw its cash flow dry up and one of its former executives indicted on tax-evasion charges. From the outset of the bankruptcy filing, the company’s attorneys said there was only one outcome in mind, to find a new owner. However, the new owner came as a surprise: an investor that was in the midst of a dispute with Soupman before and during the bankruptcy process.
Former NFL quarterback Michael Vick listed his mailing address in his 2008 bankruptcy filing as Leavenworth, the federal prison in Kansas where he was detained at the time, USA Today reported. The bankruptcy filing — which came a year after he pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge related to running a dog-fighting ring — was expected after his career was interrupted by the 23-month sentence. Nine years later, however, there’s something atypical about this bankruptcy case: Vick has paid back about 99 percent of the money owed to creditors. “It’s not too often you can recover and distribute this much value in a chapter 11,” Joseph Luzinski, the liquidation trustee who has overseen disbursements to creditors since 2009, said in a statement. Vick was $17.8 million in debt when he filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. The final payments to creditors ($1.53 million) began going out Nov. 1, according to court records. Vick has paid a total of $17.46 million in the bankruptcy case, which includes legal fees.