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Instant Brands, maker of the Instant Pot pressure cooker and Pyrex glassware, received court approval on Tuesday to borrow an additional $30 million to fund itself through bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported. The company has been negotiating with vendors critical to the production of its hallmark kitchen gadgets, and the talks made clear that Instant Brands needed additional money, according to company attorney Brian Resnick. The company has already spent $132.5 million of bankruptcy financing secured at the start of its chapter 11 case, according to court papers. “It became apparent as these negotiations proceeded that the debtors would need additional financing to honor the agreements and in order to maintain a stable business,” Resnick said in a bankruptcy hearing Tuesday. Meanwhile, the manufacturer is in the throes of soliciting interest from potential bidders to sell some or all of its assets. The bid deadline is September 7.

WeWork on Tuesday raised doubt about its ability to stay in business as the co-working space provider faces losses and a dwindling cash pile amid major changes in the way people work, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. WeWork, once one of the world’s most valuable startups worth $47 billion, said Tuesday excess supply of commercial real estate, greater competition for flexible space and uncertain economic conditions resulted in losses in the second quarter. The company has seen higher churn and lower demand than it anticipated, with memberships at its locations falling from a year ago, Interim Chief Executive Officer David Tolley said in its quarterly results. WeWork’s management also warned that “as a result of our losses…which have been impacted by the recent increases in member churn…substantial doubt exists about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.” WeWork raised billions of dollars from firms like SoftBank, its largest financial backer, but its growth stalled after investors raised concerns over its charismatic co-founder Adam Neumann’s unorthodox management style and his related-party transactions with the company. He was ousted in 2019 and under new management WeWork went public in 2021 through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company.

Party City Holdco Inc. is considering splitting up its balloon manufacturing and retailing businesses as the latter charts a course out of bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported. Party City has held confidential talks with debt holders about spinning off its Anagram unit. Anagram has a debt stack separate from its parent and didn’t follow most other Party City units into chapter 11 bankruptcy in January. But the businesses are deeply linked. Party City accounts for around 40% of Anagram’s revenue, according to a Fitch Ratings report from July. The retailer buys almost all of its balloons from Anagram, but has threatened to abandon that contract during bankruptcy. Anagram’s debt arose from a 2020 financing in which some Party City creditors exchanged their existing holdings to move closer to the prized balloon manufacturer. It was an ill-fated attempt to save Party City — which saw its sales plummet when the COVID-19 pandemic crimped social functions — from bankruptcy. Party City recently revised a key deal with some of its biggest lenders, tweaking its plan to exit chapter 11 protection after struggling to meet financial projections.

Heirs of the late Art Van Elslander would tap business insurance policy proceeds and pay nothing out of pocket as part of a proposed $8 million settlement agreement with the trustee for the Art Van Furniture bankruptcy case, the Detroit Free Press reported. The tentative settlement, laid out last week by the trustee in federal bankruptcy court in Delaware, would end the trustee's lawsuit against the Art Van heirs and release them from future claims — if the judge approves the agreement. The settlement would also cover former Art Van CEO Kim Yost and the Boston-based private-equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners. The Art Van family in March 2017 sold their furniture retailer to the private-equity firm in a complex $621 million deal. Nearly all of the settlement money is to come from the National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh. National Union provided insurance coverage, including for breach of fiduciary duty claims, to former Art Van President Gary Van Elslander, Yost and various Thomas H. Lee Partners officials who sat on Art Van's board of directors, according to settlement documents.

Overstock has officially relaunched the Bed Bath & Beyond domain online yesterday in the U.S., after acquiring the bankrupt retail chain’s intellectual property assets for $21.5 million in June, the Associated Press reported. The online retailer Overstock.com said in late June that it was dumping its name online and it will become Bed & Bath & Beyond, which declared bankruptcy earlier this year. The name change was made in Canada on June 29, but at the time the Midvale, Utah-based company didn't specify a date for the U.S. relaunch. Overstock.com’s CEO Jonathan Johnson told The Associated Press in a phone interview last week that the relaunch in Canada has “run without a hitch.” The company has added roughly 600,000 bed and bath items since its bid for the retailer became public last month, Johnson said. The company has still not made any decisions on a corporate name, he said. Johnson had said that the name change was necessary because Overstock still confuses some customers and suppliers who thought it was a liquidator. That’s how it got its start in 1999. It transformed in 2004 into a general merchandise retailer, selling a wide variety of items. In 2021, Overstock fine-tuned its strategy to focus on furniture and home decor, getting rid of items like clothing.

Back Yard Burgers has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after shuttering its Charlotte, N.C.,-area restaurants, the Charlotte Business Journal reported. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of North Carolina has consolidated affiliated filings under the Tantum Companies LLC. Tantum CEO Mark Cote, in a declaration filed with the court on June 27, says a chapter 11 restructuring is necessary to maximize the value of the debtors’ estates, provide the greatest recovery for stakeholders and preserve ongoing operations. Charlotte-based Axum Capital Partners — co-owned by former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad II — bought a controlling interest in Back Yard Burgers in 2017. The bankruptcy petition is signed by managers including Muhammad, Denis Ackah-Yensu, Raymond Groth, Jim Phillips. Axum also filed for chapter 11 protection for Wild Wing Cafe on July 19. Tantum's filing claims it has between $1 million and $10 million in assets and at least $10 million to $50 million in debts. It has between 200 and 999 estimated creditors, including the N.C. Department of Revenue, the Tennessee Department of Revenue and Mississippi State Tax Commission as well as Primax Properties in Charlotte, multiple divisions of Sysco and Gordon Food Service.

Tattooed Chef Inc., a plant-based food producer with properties in Albuquerque, is filing for bankruptcy, with the company citing an inability to turn a profit, the Albuquerque Business First reported. While the Paramount, Calif.-based company did not comment on the details of the extent of employee layoffs either in New Mexico or elsewhere, it said in a statement on June 30 announcing its intention to file for bankruptcy that “the Company has provided notice of intended layoffs to its employees in California and New Mexico.” In addition, the company on June 30 filed a worker adjustment and retraining notification (WARN) with the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions that listed the total number of layoffs at 272, with a layoff date of Aug. 30. Tattooed Chef acquired Albuquerque-based New Mexico Food Distributors Inc. and Karsten Tortilla Factory LLC in a $34.1 million deal in May 2021. The company was awarded $190,424 by the state of New Mexico under the Job Training Incentive Program in 2021, with the money intended to be used for on-the-job or classroom training for newly created positions for businesses either relocating or expanding their presence in New Mexico. The funds were not awarded outright, but instead the company was able to be reimbursed by the State with them once the training was complete, Tattooed Chef never filed for reimbursement, so no funds were disbursed, Bruce Krasnow, public information officer at the New Mexico Economic Development Department, said. Tattooed Chef was backed by Kansas City, Mo.-based UMB Capital, a subsidiary of UMB Bank, who invested $7 million in the company before it went public in 2020.

Authentic Brands Group said yesterday that it’s received bankruptcy court approval to buy footwear brand Rockport, which filed for chapter 11 in June, RetailDive.com reported. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Authentic Brands said the deal expands the company’s “diverse footwear portfolio with a trusted brand.” Authentic Brands Group also announced yesterday that it has signed a long-term licensing agreement with Marc Fisher Footwear to oversee design, wholesale and e-commerce for Rockport in the U.S. The company already works with other shoe and apparel brands in the Authentic Brands portfolio, including Nine West, Hunter Boots and Bandolino. Rockport “is a perfect addition to our portfolio with opportunities for category expansion into apparel, accessories, outerwear, travel and more,” Authentic Brands Group CEO Jamie Salter said in a statement. Rockport filed for chapter 11 for the second time in five years last month. At that time, the company said it had “an inadequate liquidity cushion to survive further economic challenges.”

The former operator of Delmonico’s in New York, yesteryear scene of Wall Street deals brokered over wedge salads and buttery steaks, has filed bankruptcy amid an ownership fight with its landlord over the storied restaurant’s name, Bloomberg News reported. Ocinomled Ltd., which began operating Delmonico’s in the late 1990s, filed for chapter 11 protection on Monday and listed $950,000 in unpaid rent allegedly owed to an affiliate of real estate investment firm Time Equities Inc. The affiliate, Beaver Equities Group LP, owns the historic building in Manhattan’s Financial District that houses the restaurant, which is temporarily closed. The bankruptcy follows years of litigation between Ocinomled’s former partners and Beaver, which argues it acquired the Delmonico’s mark around the time it purchased the building bearing the restaurant’s name. Ocinomled’s owners contend they own the Delmonico’s name and common law mark in New York along with the goodwill associated with it. In any event, the Time Equities affiliate and restaurateurs who say they’re working to reopen Delmonico’s argue Ocinomled’s lease expired at the end of 2022 and that new operators now have a 15-year deal to run the establishment. Lawyer Rodney Austin, who represents the new operators — called DRG Hospitality Group — said Ocinomled’s bankruptcy will have no impact on plans to revive Delmonico’s, which closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. His clients are working toward a September re-opening, he said.

The former operator of Delmonico’s in New York, yesteryear scene of Wall Street deals brokered over wedge salads and buttery steaks, has filed bankruptcy amid an ownership fight with its landlord over the storied restaurant’s name, Bloomberg News reported. Ocinomled Ltd., which began operating Delmonico’s in the late 1990s, filed for chapter 11 protection on Monday and listed $950,000 in unpaid rent allegedly owed to an affiliate of real estate investment firm Time Equities Inc. The affiliate, Beaver Equities Group LP, owns the historic building in Manhattan’s Financial District that houses the restaurant, which is temporarily closed. The bankruptcy follows years of litigation between Ocinomled’s former partners and Beaver, which argues it acquired the Delmonico’s mark around the time it purchased the building bearing the restaurant’s name. Ocinomled’s owners contend they own the Delmonico’s name and common law mark in New York along with the goodwill associated with it. In any event, the Time Equities affiliate and restaurateurs who say they’re working to reopen Delmonico’s argue Ocinomled’s lease expired at the end of 2022 and that new operators now have a 15-year deal to run the establishment. Lawyer Rodney Austin, who represents the new operators — called DRG Hospitality Group — said Ocinomled’s bankruptcy will have no impact on plans to revive Delmonico’s, which closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. His clients are working toward a September re-opening, he said.