Executives at Indianapolis finance firm TWG Capital Inc . will offer the company to the highest bidder at a Nov. 7 bankruptcy auction---an event that has already caught the attention of a Chicago private-equity firm that put forth a $200,000 bid, Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported today. Its opening auction bid comes from an affiliate of Chicago private-equity firm 221 Partners Fund LP, which already indirectly owns a piece of the company.
Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling may be forced to sell the blood-tinged sock he wore during the 2004 World Series to cover loans he guaranteed for his failed video game company, the Washington Post reported yesterday. Schilling's 38 Studios filed for bankruptcy in June, listing the sock as bank collateral in a filing with the Massachusetts secretary of state. Also listed is a baseball cap said to have been worn by Lou Gehrig and a collection of World II memorabilia. Schilling’s 38 Studios is based in Providence, R.I., lured there from Massachusetts with a $75-million loan guarantee. The state is likely responsible for about $100 million related to the deal, including interest.
Troubled wireless company FiberTower Corp . got approval from Bankruptcy Judge Michael D. Lynn to hold a bankruptcy auction Nov. 5 to sell its business, which routes cell phone calls through its towers and claims to hold a license for a massive chunk of wireless channel spectrum in major cities, Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported today. Under the timeline approved by Judge Lynn, FiberTower executives will look for bids until Nov. 1 and return to court with the outcome Nov. 6. The San Francisco-based company said that it is selling virtually all of its equipment, licenses and permits.
Tanker owner and operator B+H Ocean Carriers Ltd. filed a reorganization plan on Monday that liquidates its assets and distributes them to creditors, Dow Jones Newswires reported yesterday. B+H has already sold one of its ships, the Sakonnet, and is continuing to work to sell the other three, it said. The sale of the Sakonnet will go to satisfy Bank of Nova Scotia, which is owed $9.6 million secured by that ship. The sale of the others will go toward fulfilling Macquarie Bank Ltd.'s $23.6 million secured claim. Macquarie purchased this debt from Nordea Bank and Bank of Scotland. In the meantime, Macquarie is providing funding to keep the ships operational until they are sold.
Ally Financial Inc. is worried that the proposed sale of Residential Capital LLC's mortgage-servicing platform might hamstring ResCap's promise to abide by the terms of a landmark national mortgage settlement, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Ally, ResCap's government-controlled parent, on Friday expressed concerns about whether Nationstar Mortgage LLC would fulfill ResCap's obligations under the settlement if it wins a coming auction for the bankrupt company's mortgage-servicing portfolio. Nationstar, a subsidiary of Fortress Investment Group, has been named the lead bidder in that contest, with a $2.5 billion bid. According to Ally, the tentative sale deal with Nationstar does not spell out that the prospective purchaser will "honor and perform all of the debtors' obligations" under a settlement the nation's largest mortgage lenders struck with the Department of Justice and scores of state attorneys general over alleged violations in mortgage origination and foreclosure practices. Ally said that it will not back the transaction unless ResCap's settlement responsibilities are preserved.
Bankruptcy Judge Peter J. Walsh approved the $16 million sale of computer bingo terminal maker GameTech International Inc. to an investment vehicle controlled by gambling industry veteran Yuri Itkis, Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported today. Cash-strapped GameTech filed for bankruptcy after its bank lenders sold their loans to the Las Vegas-based trust.
Defeated by a federal rule that automatically takes federal school loans away from bankrupt colleges, Texas liberal-arts school Lon Morris College is preparing to sell itself in pieces at a cash auction, Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported today. The college's bankruptcy attorneys have begun the process of cutting off several lease agreements, including one with California First Leasing Corp . for $700,000 worth of dormitory furnishings. The college has also asked for permission to get out of contracts for its office equipment, pest control services and ice and vending machines.
Ally Financial Inc's international operations have drawn interest from more than 15 bidders, including banks and General Motors Co, Reuters reported today. The auto lender, which is 74-percent owned by the U.S. Treasury after a series of bailouts, received a second round of bids on Friday as part of a sale process announced in May. Ally, the former lending arm of GM, is selling its operations in Europe, Canada, Latin America and Mexico in an effort to speed up repayment to taxpayers. General Motors, which is also partly owned by the U.S. Treasury, is interested in Ally's European and Latin American auto loan operations, but not its Canadian unit. GM disclosed in August that it was bidding for Ally's international operations.
Visual effects creator Digital Domain Media Group Inc. on Monday won bankruptcy court approval of the $30.2 million sale of its assets to a team set up by Beijing Galloping Horse Film Co. and Reliance MediaWorks Ltd, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. The specific assets to be sold include Digital Domain's visual effects business, commercial production business and the virtual performance business that "reanimated" an image of the deceased rapper Tupac Shakur at the Coachella music festival earlier this year. The buyers will also get Digital Domain's studios in California and Vancouver as well as a co-production stake in the film "Ender's Game," a science fiction movie that is due out next year. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan L. Shannon said that he would sign off on the sale, which more than doubled the starting offer of $15 million from investment firm Searchlight Capital. But he expressed "regret" at the aggressive two-week timetable set for Digital Domain's chapter 11 case.
Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath has approved a process for failed solar power company Solyndra to sell its former California headquarters to Seagate Technology for just over $90 million, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The sale process approved by Judge Walrath yesterday makes Seagate the lead bidder for the 30-acre Solyndra complex in Fremont, Calif. She tentatively scheduled a hearing to approve the sale for Nov. 15.