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Celebrity chef Chloe Coscarelli got the green light from a U.S. District Court judge to go after ESquared Hospitality LLC as part of a struggle over control of the By Chloe vegan restaurant brand that she co-founded but left behind after a dispute, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Judge Jesse Furman of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan issued an opinion and order on Thursday finding ESquared, one of By Chloe’s largest shareholders, liable for breaching an operating agreement with Ms. Coscarelli and awarded attorneys’ fees and costs to her, according to court documents. “This was a classic David v. Goliath battle,” said Ronald J. Schutz, a lawyer representing Chef Chloe LLC and Ms. Coscarelli, who gained fame after winning on the Food Network show “Cupcake Wars” in 2010. The judge’s order comes after an arbitrator found last year that By Chloe should reinstate Ms. Coscarelli’s 50% interests in a corporate affiliate and pay about $2.27 million for lawyers’ fees and costs. Judge Furman confirmed that ESquared was on the hook for the liability and fee portions of the arbitration awards, but put a pause on the case until March. However, the judge reserved judgment on whether to confirm or vacate the award portion that calls for reinstating her membership interest due to the pending bankruptcy proceeding of BC Hospitality Group, the restaurant chain’s parent company.

Alternative-asset-management firm Benefit Street Partners LLC has sued Il Mulino’s co-owner over access to the luxury Italian restaurant chain’s website and use of liquor licenses, more than a month after the fund manager’s affiliate acquired some of the eatery’s assets out of bankruptcy, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. BSP filed an adversary proceeding Wednesday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan against Gerald Katzoff and his company GFB Restaurant Corp., which operates the legendary Il Mulino restaurant in Greenwich Village. The asset manager sought a temporary restraining order against Mr. Katzoff, preventing him from interfering with liquor licenses and permits for some Il Mulino locations that BSP’s affiliate had acquired. It also sought to stop him from removing those entities from the ilmulino.com website, related email server and social media accounts, according to court papers. During a status conference on Thursday, Judge Martin Glenn ordered a standstill on the intellectual-property-rights dispute, pending another court hearing or a stipulation and order, as litigation between the parties continues. K.G. LM LLC, a manager of Il Mulino, sought chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July for seven of 16 Il Mulino’s locations outside New York City, blaming the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and a dispute with BSP over a loan default.

In the past few weeks, investors have bid up the share prices of companies such as GameStop Corp. and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., as short sellers have bet against them. GameStop is trying to survive a yearslong erosion of its business, which has relied for nearly four decades on people visiting its bricks-and-mortar stores to buy the latest videogames and consoles, as well as to trade in and purchase used games and gear. The company has been stung by mounting competition from retail giants such as Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc., and the advancement of technology that enables people to download games directly from consoles and computers instead of buying hard copies. It has also gone through a period of high executive turnover, with Chief Executive George Sherman — a longtime retail executive who joined GameStop in 2019 — being the fifth person to hold the role since November 2017. To preserve its business, Grapevine, Texas-based GameStop has been working to pay down debt and pledged to accelerate its e-commerce operations. In the recent holiday season, the company’s e-commerce sales rose more than 300% from the comparable year-earlier period, helped by the release of new videogame consoles from Microsoft Corp. and Sony Corp. Analysts expect GameStop to post its fourth consecutive annual decline in revenue in its latest fiscal year amid declines in its core operations and efforts to streamline its business. AMC, the world’s largest cinema chain with nearly 1,000 locations, became the latest darling of the retail trading scene after it signed a series of financing deals that are expected to help it ward off bankruptcy. Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic forced AMC to temporarily close most of its theaters, the Leawood, Kan.-based company has faced the real possibility of running out of cash, and warned investors in October that it might need to file for chapter 11 if it doesn’t raise enough money from investors willing to bet on its recovery. AMC, the world’s largest cinema chain with nearly 1,000 locations, became the latest darling of the retail trading scene after it signed a series of financing deals that are expected to help it ward off bankruptcy. Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic forced AMC to temporarily close most of its theaters, the Leawood, Kan.-based company has faced the real possibility of running out of cash, and warned investors in October that it might need to file for chapter 11 if it doesn’t raise enough money from investors willing to bet on its recovery.

The U.S. House Financial Services and Senate Banking committees said yesterday they will hold hearings on the stock market after users of investment apps faced trading limits following the “Reddit rally” that put a charge into GameStop and other volatile stocks that were touted in online forums, Reuters reported. “We must deal with the hedge funds whose unethical conduct directly led to the recent market volatility and we must examine the market in general and how it has been manipulated by hedge funds and their financial partners to benefit themselves while others pay the price,” said Representative Maxine Waters, a Democrat who heads the House panel. Waters added the hearing will focus on “short selling, online trading platforms, gamification and their systemic impact on our capital markets and retail investors.” An army of retail investors routed Wall Street professionals this week, placing hedge funds in a costly “short squeeze” after the funds had bet on future declines in GameStop and other out-of-favor stocks. But on Thursday, brokerages Robinhood Markets Inc. and Interactive Brokers restricted buying shares in red-hot GameStop and several other stocks that soared after being shorted by professionals. Late Thursday, Robinhood said it will allow limited buying on Friday.

A private-equity firm that owns a chunk of AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc.’s bonds is converting them into equity following a remarkable rally in the cinema giant’s stock, as AMC struggles to ward off bankruptcy amid closures of movie theaters during the pandemic, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. AMC’s share price quadrupled this week after the company inked a substantial debt and equity raise and subsequently became the latest stock to be touted by the online community of retail investors who helped pump up GameStop Inc. AMC said yesterday that Silver Lake Group LLC on Thursday has elected to convert the $600 million of convertible notes it owns into equity. The Silver Lake swap illustrates how AMC and other volatile companies caught up in the retail trading mania can benefit from surges of bullish sentiment, in this case enabling AMC to cut approximately a tenth of its roughly $6 billion in debt. After closing at $19.90 a share on Wednesday, having more than quadrupled in value from the start of the week, AMC’s stock retraced much of its gains, closing at $8.63 on yesterday, down about 56.6%. AMC share trading was restricted on Robinhood Markets Inc. and other popular online brokerages yesterday, drawing sharp rebuke from individual investors. Menlo Park, Calif.-based Silver Lake bought its unsecured notes in 2018, gaining a seat on AMC’s board. After the coronavirus pandemic forced AMC to temporarily close nearly all of its roughly 1,000 cinemas around the world, Silver Lake entered into a deal to convert its unsecured notes into a new first-lien convertible bond, meaning it would have first dibs on AMC’s assets in the event of a default.

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. is considering raising money by selling more stock, capitalizing on the unprecedented runup in its shares this week, Bloomberg News reported. A stock sale would follow AMC announcing $917 million in fresh financing Monday, which helped it stave off the threat of bankruptcy. On Wednesday, it said that it completed a previously announced at-the-market equity program, raising $305 million. AMC has benefited from a Reddit-fueled investing frenzy that sent heavily shorted stocks into the stratosphere this week. Though the stock plummeted on Thursday —hurt by Robinhood and other trading platforms curbing trading in its shares — AMC remains up 307% this year.

The largest shareholder in high-end mall owner Macerich Co. sold its entire holding for nearly $500 million when the stock soared after being touted on Reddit, Bloomberg News reported. Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan sold 24.56 million shares on Wednesday at an average price of $20.25 a share, according to details in an amended 13D. The Canadian fund had owned 16.4% of the company, according to data complied by Bloomberg. Macerich, a real estate investment trust based in Santa Monica, Calif., has been struggling for years and was battered by a pandemic that forced malls to shut down and pushed consumers toward e-commerce. The stock lost 84% of its value over a three-year period ending Dec. 31, 2020. Then comments began appearing on Reddit boards including r/wallstreetbets, the subreddit now famous for helping to fuel an astonishing rise in GameStop Corp., AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. and other heavily-shorted or out-of-favor stocks. Macerich shares jumped 68% in four trading sessions and reached about $26 at one point on Wednesday on frenetic volume — allowing Ontario Teachers to get out.

Belk Inc., the department store chain owned by Sycamore Partners, will seek to complete an upcoming reorganization in bankruptcy court in a single day, Bloomberg News reported. The retailer will file its chapter 11 petition in the Southern District of Texas in late February. Belk on Tuesday disclosed its plans to cut debt and raise new capital to continue operating, and it aims to wrap up the court process by the next day. The urgency stems from concern over business interruptions during the bankruptcy process, which can spook vendors and customers. The quick turnaround should benefit from Belk’s work in recent weeks to get lenders on board with its restructuring plan before it filed. Equity Stake The company’s plans are subject to factors including judicial discretion, and elements could change. A 24-hour turnaround in court would put Belk in rare company, alongside recent record-breakers like online retailer Fullbeauty Brands Inc. and technology company Sungard Availability in 2019. The restructuring plan involves handing 49.9% of the company’s equity to its lenders, with parent Sycamore retaining a 50.1% stake in exchange for supplying up to $100 million of a new $225 million loan to the company.

After months of fighting to avoid bankruptcy, cinema giant AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. rode Wednesday’s trading frenzy to a triple-digit share rise, opening a window for the company to exploit the speculative mania to help survive the pandemic, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The movie theater chain’s shares catapulted 300% on Wednesday as revved-up retail traders bet on AMC as the next meme stock, cheered by posters on the Reddit forum WallStreetBets where newbie investors gathered to encourage each other to fuel GameStop Corp.’s dizzying rally. “AMC is clearly next,” one poster wrote Wednesday, adding several rocket ship emojis. “Double down AMC wooo,” another user said. The company has spent months vying to stay afloat, unable to open its movie theaters to full capacity because of the coronavirus pandemic and starved of fresh content by Hollywood studios that began releasing flicks straight to streaming. Burning cash at a rate of roughly $100 million a month, AMC last month began selling stock to the public with a bankruptcy warning attached, saying that a failure to raise enough capital could mean chapter 11.

Century-old department store chain Belk Inc. said that it would file for bankruptcy with a deal in hand with its lenders and private-equity owner Sycamore Partners to cut $450 million in debt through a fast-track chapter 11 filing, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Sycamore, Belk’s owner since 2015, and lenders including KKR & Co. and Blackstone Group Inc. have committed to invest $225 million to recapitalize the company under restructuring terms that would shrink its $2.6 billion balance sheet. Belk said it planned to complete the prepackaged bankruptcy by the end of February and allow Sycamore to retain its majority stake. “As the ongoing effects of the pandemic have continued, we’ve been assessing potential options to protect our future,” Belk CEO Lisa Harper said Tuesday. “We’re confident that this agreement puts us on the right long-term path toward significantly reducing our debt…to continue investing in our business, including further enhancements and additions to Belk’s omnichannel capabilities.” The deal reflects Sycamore’s commitment to bricks-and-mortar retailers even after a wave of bankruptcy filings hit the sector last year following the temporary shutdown of most nonessential shopping amid the coronavirus pandemic. With nearly 300 stores mostly in the Southeast, Belk generated $3.8 billion in revenue in the 12 months ended November, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Belk has been slowing down payments to suppliers to conserve cash, according to a person familiar with the matter. Under the bankruptcy plan, Belk suppliers will continue to receive payment in the ordinary course for all goods and services, allowing the company to continue normal operations, the company said.