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The judge overseeing satellite operator Intelsat SA’s bankruptcy has rejected a request by a group of equityholders to bring in an independent examiner to investigate claims of potential mismanagement and other ways to bring in more money for creditors that they say the company has ignored, Reuters reported. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Keith Phillips in Richmond, Va., issued his ruling yesterday during a virtual hearing, about 40 days before he is set to consider Intelsat’s proposed reorganization plan for approval. The judge said that he did not believe there was sufficient time before the confirmation hearing for an examiner to conduct a meaningful investigation. Under the plan, Intelsat, represented by Kirkland & Ellis, would cut its debt from $15 billion to $7 billion and hand control of the company over to unsecured bondholders of subsidiary Intelsat Jackson Holdings SA. The plan is opposed by another group of bondholders. The equity group, which represents about 2% of Intelsat SA’s shareholders, had argued that the plan is improperly designed solely for the benefit of the Intelsat affiliates’ creditors, rather than creditors and shareholders of the parent entity. The group said that an examiner should be brought in to investigate tax benefits and potential mismanagement claims against executives, among other areas of potential value, that could boost recoveries to creditors of Intelsat SA. The company, however, said that it was too late in the game to bring in an examiner. Judge Phillips agreed, saying he didn’t think an examiner would have enough time to get up to speed before the Nov. 8 plan confirmation hearing.

GTT Communications Inc. said that it plans to file a pre-packaged bankruptcy after it closes the sale of its infrastructure division in the coming weeks, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The cloud-networking provider on Thursday said it plans to file for bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The company said that its foreign businesses and operations outside the U.S. won’t be part of the filing and are unlikely to be affected by the chapter 11 cases. GTT said that it has struck a restructuring support agreement with a majority of its secured and unsecured debtors and I Squared Capital. GTT is expecting to sell its infrastructure division to I Squared Capital, as it seeks to repay its secured debt. The sale and the transactions related to the restructuring support will reduce GTT’s debt by roughly $2.8 billion, the company said. GTT last year agreed to sell the infrastructure division for $2.15 billion. GTT said that its business is operating as usual both in the U.S. and globally, as it has access to enough liquidity to operate its businesses. With the support of lenders, the company said it will retain additional amounts from the sale proceeds to further strengthen its cash position. Vendors, employees and other parties will continue to be paid in the ordinary course of business, it added.

In 2012, former baseball player Curt Schilling abruptly shut down his video game company 38 Studios without giving about 400 employees their final paychecks. Nine years later, many of those people are finally seeing some money — although it’s just a fraction of what they were owed, Bloomberg News reported. Many of the staff who worked for the volatile game developer in either its Rhode Island or Maryland offices will receive payment of about 14% or 20%, respectively, of what the company owed them before it ran out of money and was forced to shut down on May 24, 2012, according to bankruptcy documents. After nearly a decade of litigation through a Delaware court, final payouts were decided in June and recently began being distributed to staff. One former 38 Studios employee told Bloomberg News they received their check this week. Other employees said their checks had been sent to old addresses, as many of them have moved multiple times for new jobs in the years since 38 Studios closed. Schilling founded 38 Studios in the twilight of his baseball career in order to make his dream game, an online role-playing game that would take on the popular World of Warcraft. But his inexperience and mismanagement led the studio to collapse before the game was finished. In 2011, 38 Studios moved from Massachusetts to Rhode Island as part of an elaborate deal in which the state government served as a guarantor for a $75 million loan that was meant to support several years of development. But 38 Studios only received about $50 million and spent lavishly, leading Schilling’s company to run out of money in just one year.

SVXR Inc., an early-stage company making automated inspection equipment for the semiconductor industry, is planning to sell itself out of bankruptcy to competitor Bruker Nano Inc. for $11.8 million and said it needs to do so quickly, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Formerly known as Silicon Valley X-Ray, privately held SVXR filed for chapter 11 Wednesday with roughly $10.5 million in debt, including $517,000 owed to the U.S. Small Business Administration and $8.2 million owed to secured bondholders. The company’s main product, the X200, allows customers to monitor and detect defects as semiconductors are being made, according to court papers. Founded in 2013, SVXR has invested heavily in its technology and has never been cash-flow positive, Chief Executive Officer Daniel Trepanier said in a Thursday court filing. He said SVXR sells the X200, data analytics tools and warranty services to “six key customers that are well-known leaders in the semiconductor fabrication industry.” SVXR has been pursuing a strategic transaction or debt refinancing for nearly a year, he said, noting that the company is in default on its secured debt obligations. The company’s backers include Samsung Venture Investment Corp. and Firsthand Technology Value Fund Inc., according to court papers filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Jose.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler signaled that his deep interest in cryptocurrency doesn’t mean he’s simpatico with the hands-off oversight approach that many enthusiasts would like to see, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. Policymakers have struggled with how to respond to the mostly unregulated $1.6 trillion market, which has seen explosive growth and wild price swings. Gensler is contemplating a robust oversight regime, centered on establishing safeguards for the millions of investors who’ve been stocking their portfolios with tokens. “While I’m neutral on the technology, even intrigued — I spent three years teaching it, leaning into it — I’m not neutral about investor protection,” says Gensler, who on Tuesday will give a speech about crypto at the Aspen Security Forum. “If somebody wants to speculate, that’s their choice, but we have a role as a nation to protect those investors against fraud.” Gensler has asked Congress to pass a law that could give the agency the legal authority to monitor crypto exchanges, but he says the SEC’s powers are already broad. There’s been much discussion over the years about which kinds of digital assets fall under the SEC’s purview. Some such as Bitcoin that act like currencies are considered commodities, not securities. But there are thousands of other coins, and Gensler believes most are unregistered securities that must comply with SEC rules. Broadly he noted that technology has sparked economic progress throughout human history, and he sees a similar boost from digital assets. That may only come, however, with strong and thoughtful regulation. As an analogy, he says the automobile industry didn’t fully take off until governments laid out driving rules. Speed limits and traffic lights provided public safety but also helped cars become mainstream. “It’s only with bringing things inside — and sort of clearly within our public policy goals — that a technology has a chance of broader adoption,” he says.

Frontier Communications Parent Inc. has hired a new executive to take charge of its finances just weeks after the telecommunications company emerged from bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported. Norwalk, Conn.-based Frontier, which operates in 25 states, said yesterday that Scott Beasley would become its new chief financial officer, effective June 14. Last month, Beasley said that he planned to resign as CFO of Arcosa Inc. He had served in that post at the Dallas-based provider of infrastructure products and services since November 2018. Before joining Arcosa, Beasley worked at rail transportation company Trinity Industries Inc., including about two years as its CFO. Beasley is taking over Frontier’s finance function after the company in April completed its bankruptcy restructuring, which began in April 2020. Under chapter 11 protection, Frontier cut its debt by about $11 billion and reduced its annual interest expense by approximately $1 billion, the company said.