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The judge overseeing the mysterious bankruptcy of an Apple Inc. sapphire supplier yesterday voiced skepticism over the widespread sealing of documents in the case, saying that he is "not seeing the kind of trade secrets" that would warrant sealing, Reuters reported yesterday. Scant information has emerged since GT Advanced Technologies Inc. filed for bankruptcy last week, wiping out most of its market value and triggering speculation as to what may have soured its Apple relationship and torpedoed its prospects. Key court filings revealing the reasons for the bankruptcy, which are routine in most chapter 11 cases, have in this case been filed with the court in secret. GT Advanced cited strict confidentiality requirements in its Apple contracts which, if violated, carry fines of $50 million.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-judge-gt-advanced-bankruptcy-200611692…

In related news, New Hampshire and the U.S. Justice Department want to know why GT Advanced Technologies Inc. filed for bankruptcy just 10 months after announcing a multiyear supply agreement with Apple Inc., Bloomberg News reported yesterday. GT Advanced, based in Merrimack, N.H., should be ordered to file a public account of what led to the bankruptcy, including key transactions with Apple, according to both the U.S. Trustee supervising the company’s bankruptcy and the state of New Hampshire. “Public scrutiny of a debtor’s conduct and transparency in the bankruptcy process is essential to fostering confidence among creditors and parties in interest regarding the fundamental fairness of the bankruptcy system,” the U.S. Trustee wrote in court papers yesterday, urging a judge to order disclosure.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2014-10-14/gt-advanced-must-disclos…

Ailing battery maker Exide Technologies could be up for sale before Christmas if it can't come to terms with key creditors on a chapter 11 bankruptcy-exit plan, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Lenders have agreed to extend the maturity date on bankruptcy financing, but required Exide to agree to an "orderly sale process" if it can't finalize a plan-support agreement by Nov. 17, according to court papers filed on Monday.

A plan by cooperative food distributor Associated Wholesalers Inc. to pay executives more than half a million dollars in bonuses has met the resistance of a federal bankruptcy watchdog, who says that the extra pay doesn't require enough work on the part of the employees, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Associated Wholesalers proposes paying 12 members of senior management $246,254 for staying with the company until it is sold. Another $320,186 has been set aside to pay 15 senior managers if the company meets or exceeds certain financial projections. U.S. Trustee Roberta DeAngelis took issue with the bonuses in a filing on Friday, saying that both plans fail to meet the standards outlined in federal bankruptcy laws.

Freefall Adventures' recently filed for chapter 11 protection, Philly.com reported yesterday. The company, which operates out of Cross Keys Airport in Monroe Township, N.J., is a mainstay in the regional skydiving community, though it has also gained attention over the years for accidents and fatalities, risks commonly associated with the sport. In August, the company's owners, John and Agnes Eddowes, also filed for chapter 13 bankruptcy. The personal bankruptcy documents indicate assets totaling about $6.4 million, with total liabilities of approximately $2.4 million. Freefall's Oct. 2 filing lists assets under $50,000 and liabilities of more than $1 million up to $10 million.

Energy Future Holdings Corp. is trying to establish a bidding and sale process that locks in the structure of a reorganization plan and produces “catastrophic” results for the unregulated power plants, creditors of the generation side of the company said in court filings at the end of last week, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The objections come from senior noteholders of the generation business and the official creditors’ committee representing that side of the company. The bankruptcy judge in Delaware will lay down auction rules at an Oct. 17 hearing. Two factions epitomize the divergent views about how the bankruptcy reorganization, which began in April, should proceed. The holding company and creditors of the Oncor electric distribution business want a structure that avoids what they say would be a potential $7 billion tax liability. Avoiding taxes resulting from a sale requires a tax-free spinoff of the generation business, but creditors of the generation business say that the tax-free structure would deprive them of a stepped up basis in the assets that they would receive. In turn, the lack of a higher basis would mean the loss of billions of dollars of potential value in the generation business.

LightSquared wants its bankruptcy judge to halt Philip Falcone's lawsuits against the global positioning systems industry and the U.S. government until after LightSquared is out of bankruptcy, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. In a bankruptcy court filing on Wednesday, LightSquared said that the bankruptcy court has the power to stop these suits filed by Falcone's Harbinger Capital Partners, which currently controls LightSquared's equity. The money Harbinger is going after, LightSquared said, is actually money that could also belong to the LightSquared estate.

GT Advanced Technologies Inc. yesterday revealed that it intends to wind down sapphire production, cutting short its once-promising bid to supply the scratch-resistant material for Apple Inc's iPhones and other mobile devices, Reuters reported today. Scant information has emerged since GT Advanced filed unexpectedly for bankruptcy on Monday, wiping out most of its market value and triggering speculation as to what may have soured its Apple relationship and torpedoed its prospects. At the first public hearing since Monday's filing, lawyers for GT Advanced argued that it could not reveal why it sought bankruptcy and asked a court to keep crucial documents sealed, a highly unusual move that may keep investors in the dark for now about its financial implosion. A lawyer for the company said a confidentiality agreement prevented it from revealing its chapter 11 reorganization plan. Apple, which zealously guards the secrecy of its product pipeline, has been known in general to place strict confidentiality requirements on its many suppliers.

The union for more than 1,100 workers at Atlantic City, N.J.’s Trump Taj Mahal casino who are rallying to save their health-care and pension benefits are now fighting in two places: in the courtroom and on the streets, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Several hundred protesters plan to block a major traffic intersection near the Atlantic City Expressway yesterday to draw attention to pressure that workers who are unionized through Unite Here Local 54 face, said union spokesman Ben Begleiter. Billionaire Carl Icahn promised to take over the struggling casino, whose owner filed for bankruptcy last month and put $100 million into its operations. But that offer stands only if casino officials can deliver about $15 million worth of cuts from workers and property tax relief from Atlantic City. Casino officials want to stop contributing money to worker pensions and to end their health care coverage.

A New York real estate lender has agreed to provide the financing Chicago Spire developer Garrett Kelleher needs to pull the failed condominium project out of bankruptcy, Crain’s Chicago Business reported yesterday. New York-based Stonebeck Capital LLC sent a commitment letter to provide a loan to the Irish developer's venture partner so it can pay off the Spire's creditors this month and exit chapter 11, according to the partner, Steven Ivankovich of Chicago-based Atlas Apartment Holdings LLC. The commitment letter and funding source was revealed at a confirmation hearing this morning for the Spire's bankruptcy plan, which a judge approved.

Bankruptcy lawyers who are preparing to sell Source Home Entertainment's manufacturing division, which makes 60 percent of U.S. retailers' checkout-counter displays, said that there won't be much left from the sale for unsecured creditors who are owed money by the Florida company, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. In a proposed payout plan filed on Monday, Source Home Entertainment lawyers said that unsecured creditors should expect to be repaid less than 1 percent of what they are owed by the company, which filed for bankruptcy after shutting down its magazine- and book-distribution business — its biggest division — and laying off more than 5,000 workers in late May.