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Krispy Kreme reported a jump in revenue for the first quarter of 2021 as the doughnut chain readies its return to the stock market after five years, according to a filing for an initial public offering (IPO) that was made public on today, Reuters reported. Krispy Kreme last month confidentially filed with U.S. regulators for an IPO. The company first went public in 2000, but it had to file for chapter 11 protection in 2005 following financial restatements, investigations into its accounting practices and a plunge in sales at some of its franchisees. It was bought by privately owned JAB Holding Co in a $1.35 billion deal in 2016 when the investment firm was ramping up its bets on coffee and restaurant businesses. Krispy Kreme’s planned listing comes at a time when demand is rising for snacks and sweets from customers craving familiar treats while staying at home due to COVID-19 restrictions. The company reported revenue of $321.8 million in the quarter ended April 4, compared with $261.2 million a year earlier.

Americans extended a spending binge in April as they continue to catch up on activities they held off on during the pandemic, propelling a broad economic recovery, the Wall Street Journal reported. After months of buying goods, many households are now shelling out more for services, dining out, traveling, and even visiting the spa. Consumer spending rose by 0.5% in April the Commerce Department said Friday—a solid increase, though slower than the 4.7% gain the prior month, which was fueled in part by federal stimulus checks. The burst in spending is the biggest reason that economists are projecting gross domestic product to jump at an annual rate of about 10% this spring. It is being fueled by rising vaccination rates, falling business restrictions and ample household savings, much of it from the federal government. Friday’s report showed a 13.1% drop in household income—a decline that is likely temporary, and due to earlier stimulus efforts by the government. Income had risen sharply in March as the government sent most households $1,400 checks as part of Covid-19 stimulus efforts. Despite the drop, Americans are sitting on a huge pile of cash. Households have saved about $2 trillion more than they would have absent the pandemic and federal relief efforts in response to it, according to Morgan Stanley.

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc.’s eager retail investors have vaulted the company’s market value to $14 billion for the first time, Bloomberg News reported. Shares extended an intraday rally to soar 49%, the most since late January, at 3:15 p.m. in New York, as the Leawood, Kan.-based company’s value jumped to a record. Volume was also high, with more than 600 million shares changing hands, more than four times the average of the past five sessions. AMC’s revival has been fueled by individual investors eager to save the movie theater industry after it raised more than $1 billion in financing to avoid bankruptcy over recent months. The stock is up more than 1250% year-to-date. Chief Executive Officer Adam Aron has embraced the Reddit-fueled rally and talked to new retail investors on conference calls. The stock has more than doubled since AMC reported quarterly results on May 6, adding more than $10 billion in value. Thursday’s milestone stands out against a market value bottom of $216.8 million, which was hit in April 2020.

Kennedy Lewis Investment Management LLC is suing the lenders that took control of the New York Sports Clubs and Lucille Roberts gym chains out of bankruptcy, saying the chapter 11 sale they orchestrated left the company in a precarious state, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Kennedy Lewis, formerly the largest single lender to the chains’ parent company, Town Sports International Holdings Inc., said the company’s other lenders put together a flawed deal that fell apart, forcing the investment firm to accept shares in a “virtually worthless” company. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in New York federal court, alleged that lenders including Abry Partners LLC, Apex Credit Partners LLC and CIFC Asset Management LLC breached their credit agreements during the Town Sports chapter 11 case. The Kennedy Lewis lawsuit “is factually wrong, legally meritless, and jurisdictionally improper,” lawyers at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP representing lenders targeted by the lawsuit said in an emailed statement. The lenders named in the lawsuit intend to seek damages against Kennedy Lewis, possibly in the Delaware bankruptcy court where the case belongs, or in federal court in New York, the lawyers said. Abry, Apex, CIFC and others engineered a proposed deal to buy out Town Sports’s assets in bankruptcy, along with private-equity firm Tacit Capital LLC. But Tacit later backed out of a promise to put $47.5 million in capital into the company. Tacit’s commitment wasn’t binding, according to the lawsuit.

A bankruptcy judge overseeing Sears Holdings Corp.’s case rejected the company’s request to increase compensation for three advisers hired to recover money by filing lawsuits against the retailer’s vendors and other parties, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Judge Robert Drain of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, N.Y., said that he needs to see more information on why Sears needs to raise the advisers’ contingency fees to pursue claims against any third parties who received payment from Sears within three months before its bankruptcy filing. Sears hired law firms ASK LLP and Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP and financial adviser Stretto to pursue so-called preference lawsuits. While such lawsuits typically play a minor role in obtaining recoveries for creditors, they have become a critical avenue to potentially collect money in the Sears case, because the Sears bankruptcy case remains open more than two years after all of its stores and operations were sold, and more than a year after Judge Drain confirmed its restructuring plan, because there wasn’t enough money left to pay top-ranking creditors—including suppliers who sold merchandise to the retailer during the bankruptcy case.

Authentic Brands Group LLC, the owner of brands such as Brooks Brothers, Juicy Couture and Forever 21, is exploring going public as soon as this year, Bloomberg News reported. The New York-based company has held discussions with potential advisers about an initial public offering. The company could seek a valuation of about $10 billion when it goes public. Its plans aren’t final, and the size and valuation of the deal could still change. The company was valued at more than $4 billion, including debt, in an $875 million investment by BlackRock Inc. in 2019. Founded and run by Jamie Salter, Authentic Brands acquired more than 30 brands over the years, including bankrupt Barneys New York. Salter started Authentic in 2010 with $250 million, scooping up niche and celebrity brands, including licenses for Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe. By the time the pandemic hit, the company had almost $15 billion in revenue and owned well-known names including Sports Illustrated and Nine West. In an interview in August, Salter said he won’t look at deals under $1 billion these days. For years, Salter eschewed operating retailers, opting to buy only the intellectual property of bankrupt merchants. That changed in 2016, when Salter teamed up with the two largest U.S. mall landlords to buy bankrupt fashion retailer Aeropostale. With a raft of retail bankruptcies, that led to other transactions, including the purchase of bankrupt Forever 21 last year.

Fashion-brands owner the Collected Group won court approval for a bankruptcy exit plan that will keep its largest shareholder, KKR & Co., in charge after a deal with unsecured creditors, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Chino, Calif.-based Collected Group is the design and distribution force behind the Joie, Current/Elliott and Equipment apparel labels, which are sold through department stores and, before the pandemic, in some of its own retail stores and online. Online sales once accounted for roughly 19% of the group’s sales, but in 2020, with shoppers in quarantine, some 50% of Collected Group’s sales were sold online, court papers say. Private-equity giant KKR, which is Collected Group’s largest equity stakeholder and secured lender, will swap secured debt for equity in a reorganization that will leave the company with $155 million less in secured debt. Junior creditors will get a chance to share between $1 million to $2 million under the plan confirmed yesterday by Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein. Junior creditors also won other concessions as part of a settlement that enlisted their support for a restructuring that will keep Collected Group in operation.