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Orange County Pays off $1 Billion Bankruptcy Debt

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Orange County has paid off the last of $1 billion worth of bonds it raised to emerge from bankruptcy, the Orange County Register reported on Saturday. Twenty-two years after declaring bankruptcy, the county’s repayment totaled nearly $1.5 billion. Repayments averaged $68 million a year — money that could have funded street improvements, libraries, health care and myriad other public services. The county still has about $20 million to pay off to various cities and agencies that have a separate repayment deal.

Gracious Home Exiting Bankruptcy With $4 Million Investment

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Manhattan luxury home retailer Gracious Home, which entered chapter 11 at the end of last year for the second time in a six-year period, has found someone to bring it back to life, the Commercial Observer reported on Friday. Tom Sullivan, the founder and former chairman of Lumber Liquidators, a specialty retailer of hardwood flooring, has been approved by the United States Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York to buy the company. The $4 million deal is being finalized as of late-afternoon today, Gracious Home Chief Executive Officer Rob Morrison told Commercial Observer. Sullivan, also the founder of furniture retail store chain Cabinets to Go and clean energy business Proton OnSite, worked with Morrison at Lumber Liquidators, when they built the brand and took it public. “Morrison and Sullivan plan to now deploy a ‘Warby Parker’ strategy — to open a handful of retail stores in very select markets across the U.S., but meaningfully drive sales via the web,” a company spokeswoman sent in an email.

Texas Tollway Company Emerges from Bankruptcy

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The privately-held entity responsible for operating and maintaining a 41-mile stretch of State Highway 130 tollway from southern Travis County toward San Antonio has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the Austin Business Journal reported today. SH 130 Concession Co., which had struggled with considerably less traffic than was initially anticipated after it opened, has secure more stable footing with new ownership and senior management, as well as an infusion of $260 million in new financing. The new ownership group, led by funds managed by Strategic Value Partners LLC, an international investment firm, has engaged Louis Berger Services to operate and maintain the roadway. Andy Bailey, a veteran transportation industry leader, has been named CEO of the company.

City of San Bernardino Emerges From Bankruptcy After Five Years

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After nearly five years, the city of San Bernardino has emerged from bankruptcy, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The city said in a statement yesterday that starting June 15 it began paying its creditors again under the terms of a bankruptcy exit plan that a judge approved in January. Drowning in debt, San Bernardino filed for bankruptcy on August 1, 2012. It came amid an unprecedented wave of cities declaring bankruptcy, including Vallejo, California and Detroit. Stockton, a Northern California city of similar size, declared bankruptcy just three days earlier. It emerged early in 2015.