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Wireless venture LightSquared LP said it reached a settlement yesterday with Deere & Co. over spectrum use that will provide support for the company as it emerges from bankruptcy, Reuters reported yesterday. The agreement could potentially lead to further settlements with other GPS providers over interference between LightSquared's spectrum and GPS signals. LightSquared officially exited chapter 11 protection on Monday after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) agreed to allow the transfer of its valuable wireless spectrum into a newly-formed company, ending one of the longest and most litigious chapter 11 cases in recent years. The company was planning to build a nationwide wireless network when the FCC proposed to suspend indefinitely its terrestrial spectrum authorizations, pushing it into bankruptcy in May of 2012 and bitter litigation with stakeholders vying for control of its valuable spectrum. Under the new deal with Deere, LightSquared will reduce out-of-band emissions and forego terrestrial use on parts of its spectrum closest to GPS.

A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a decision rejecting claims of fraud by Harbinger Capital Partners, the equity owner of bankrupt wireless venture LightSquared, against Deere & Co. and other GPS firms, Reuters reported yesterday. Hedge fund Harbinger had accused Deere, Garmin International, Trimble Navigation Ltd., and a GPS industry group of misleading LightSquared about interference concerns and hastening the wireless spectrum's plunge into bankruptcy. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a ruling by the Manhattan federal court in February, saying that Harbinger's arguments were "without merit." LightSquared has separately brought claims against the parties, which are currently being litigated in the Southern District of New York. While the Second Circuit’s decision is a blow for Harbinger, it comes just three days after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved LightSquared's request to transfer its valuable wireless spectrum into a newly-formed company.

Federal regulators on Friday approved LightSquared’s request to transfer its valuable spectrum licenses to a newly formed company, paving the way for the wireless venture to emerge from bankruptcy protection by the end of the year, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. The Federal Communications Commission approved the company’s change-of-control application, allowing the transfer of its licenses to spectrum, the limited pockets of airwaves that mobile-phone and Internet companies use, to a “New LightSquared,” a condition of the plan to exit bankruptcy after more than 3 and a half years under court protection. Notably absent from the restructured wireless venture’s management group is hedge-fund manager Phil Falcone and his Harbinger Capital Partners, which lost control of the company during the bankruptcy case. Fortress Investment Group LLC, Centerbridge Partners and J.P. Morgan & Chase Co. share ownership in the reorganized company. Falcone, who lost nearly $2 billion on LightSquared, will maintain at least a 44 percent stake in the company, although the hedge-fund manager won’t have day-to-day say in the wireless spectrum venture’s operations.

GT Advanced Technologies Inc. has lined up $80 million worth of financing to help it get out of a bankruptcy after its messy breakup with Apple Inc., the Wall Street Journal reported today. The equipment manufacturer was enlisted to supply sapphire screen material for Apple on a large scale, but the smartphone maker spurned GT’s offering, leaving it mired in debt. GT Advanced’s stint in chapter 11 protection began in October 2014, amid a fight with Apple that ended in a settlement. Since then, the company has struggled to return to its mission as a maker of industrial equipment and to find a way out of bankruptcy. The company’s existing lenders are offering bankruptcy-exit financing including $60 million in new debt and $20 million in preferred stock. The financing carries a 5 percent fee and other costs and calls for GT to file a chapter 11 exit plan by Dec. 21. The plan must be implemented in the first quarter of 2016.

Pandora acquired “key assets” from Rdio for $75 million in cash, and Rdio has agreed to file for chapter 11 protection and shutter its streaming service, TechCrunch.com reported yesterday. “The transaction is contingent upon Rdio seeking protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California. Upon approval of the proposed transaction by the bankruptcy court, Rdio will be winding down the Rdio-branded service in all markets,” Pandora noted in its statement.

Quirky, the New York-based developer of crowd-sourced inventions and parent company of the Wink smart home platform, is filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy to restructure its debts, CNET.com reported yesterday. The news comes seven weeks after the departure of Quirky founder and CEO Ben Kaufman, who stepped down from his role at the head of the company at the start of August. Kaufman's exit followed a tumultuous year that included financial difficulties, key product flops, and a botched security update for the Wink Hub, the control device at the center of Wink's smart home platform. Kaufman was replaced with Quirky Chief Financial Officer Ed Kremer. Originally launched in 2009, Quirky made a name for itself by developing product ideas from an open pool of independent and amateur inventors, rewarding the community with profit shares. 

TiVo spent $1 million during the bankruptcy case of failed TV-streaming service Aereo Inc. to buy trademarks and customer lists, and now the TV recording pioneer is making moves to acquire former Aereo customers, the Wall Street Journal reported today. In emails bearing Aereo’s logo to former customers, TiVo pitched its TiVo Roamio-OTA as a service that was “conceived, developed and introduced for people just like you.” The TiVo offer to Aereo customers comes out to $19.99 a month with a two-year commitment. That’s $5 more a month and a year longer commitment than the service is normally, but the company is throwing in the required equipment free: two devices that are normally $49.99 and $129 each. The devices together allow customers to record live antenna TV and watch on multiple devices — that is, if you already own an antenna.