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Judge Martin Glenn yesterday approved a bankruptcy-exit plan proposed by CGG Group, a French oil-services company, and required the company to improve the transparency of its executive compensation, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Following a hearing yesterday at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, Judge Glenn signed off on the plan, part of a multinational restructuring that aims to shave about $2 billion in debt from the company’s books. However, a fight over the CGG’s transparency and disclosure practices—fundamental components of the bankruptcy system that are required by law—took up much of an otherwise routine hearing. The U.S. Trustee lodged a last-minute objection to CGG’s bankruptcy plan, demanding more information about the identities and compensation of top executives and others who will stay with the company when it eventually emerges from chapter 11 protection. Andrea Schwartz, a lawyer for the U.S. Trustee, said extensive negotiations with CGG’s attorneys had failed to produce acceptable disclosures. Judge Glenn largely agreed. During yesterday’s hearing, he criticized the company’s disclosures, likening the information supplied in a complex web of earlier public documents to a “Where’s Waldo” search. The judge ruled that all officers and directors of CGG’s U.S. affiliates must be named and that CGG must also provide a range or some other description of their total compensation. Other than the U.S. trustee’s objection, CGG’s debt restructuring has been largely consensual, with creditors voting overwhelmingly in favor of the plan.

Perfumania Holdings Inc.’s reorganization plan, expected to become effective on Wednesday, has been accepted by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Newsday reported today. The Bellport, N.Y.,-based seller of celebrity and designer fragrances said that it “expects to pay vendors and suppliers in full in the ordinary course of business” under the pre-packaged bankruptcy plan. The chapter 11 plan calls for all outstanding shares of Perfumania common stock to be canceled, though “shareholders will be given the opportunity” to receive $2 per share in exchange for completing a shareholder release form. The retailer’s stock was delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Market in September after the company failed to make mandatory government filings. Read more. 

What does the future hold for retail bankruptcies? Be sure to attend ABI’s Bankruptcy 2017: Views from the Bench on October 17. 

Caesars Entertainment Corp. has an eye on expanding its Caesars, Harrah’s and Horseshoe brands in the United States and abroad after its casino operating unit emerges from nearly three years of bankruptcy as soon as today with $10 billion less in debt, Reuters reported. Industry analysts said it may be too late to catch up with rivals like MGM Resorts International, Wynn Resorts Ltd and Las Vegas Sands Corp that have spent years investing in high-growth Asian markets like Macau as U.S. gambling has cooled. Caesars has spent years struggling to manage more than $25 billion in debt, much of it taken on in 2008 when Apollo Global Management and TPG Capital led a leveraged buyout of the company. The operating unit filed for bankruptcy in early 2015. Caesars emerges from chapter 11 with a simplified structure by merging with Caesars Acquisition Corp. and other affiliates, and former creditors will hold a majority of the stock.

Caesars Entertainment Corp canceled an investor webcast yesterday following a deadly mass shooting in U.S. casino hub Las Vegas, but a spokesman said its main operating unit’s emergence from a near three-year bankruptcy was still on track for this week, Reuters reported. Earlier, Caesars said its unit, Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. Inc., was set to end a long and costly bankruptcy by Oct. 6 after receiving a series of approvals from gaming authorities and shareholders. The Caesars statement came hours after news that a lone gunman had fatally shot dozens of concertgoers in Las Vegas, where Caesars owns Caesars Palace and the Linq Hotel and Casino. A Caesars spokesman said the company, which owns the Harrah’s, Caesars and Horseshoe brands, would postpone its investor presentation until next week or the following week.

Just five months after filing for bankruptcy, the company that operates the largest chain of freestanding emergency rooms in the U.S. says it will soon return as a privately held company, the Dallas Morning News reported. A North Texas judge has confirmed Adeptus Health’s restructuring plan, and the company could emerge from chapter 11 in the coming days. Adeptus Health operated nearly 100 freestanding emergency rooms and five hospitals in a handful of states, including Texas, Arizona and Colorado, when it filed chapter 11 in April. Founded in 2012, the company grew quickly into an expansive enterprise with more than 3,200 employees and its number of shareholders reached to more than 140 affiliated entities. Yet the Adeptus entities struggled to generate the revenue to cover costs at their 24-hour emergency operations, and the expense of opening of new hospitals added even more debt. Read more. 

For more on hospital and health care insolvencies, be sure to pick up a copy of the ABI Health Care Insolvency Manual, Third Edition from the ABI Bookstore.