%1

Debtors involved in the Garlock Sealing Technologies bankruptcy case have responded to the asbestos personal injury claimant committee’s motion to adjourn the debtors’ request for a bar date for current settled asbestos claims, saying that the committee is alone in its arguments, LegalNewsline.com reported yesterday. The debtors, which include Garlock, Garrison Litigation Management Group and The Anchor Packing Company, responded to the committee’s motion to adjourn, arguing that all litigation regarding disputed claims should play out at the same time as the confirmation process rather than delaying the process as the committee requests. The debtors requested a bar date for filing settled Garlock asbestos claims on April 28 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of North Carolina.

LightSquared and its creditors, including Dish Network Corp. Chairman Charles Ergen, will go into court-ordered mediation to settle on a plan to restructure the bankrupt wireless venture, Reuters reported yesterday. Bankruptcy Judge Shelley Chapman had given sides until yesterday to forge a consensual plan to get LightSquared out of chapter 11, or else mediate under Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain. Paul Basta, a lawyer for an independent committee supervising the LightSquared restructuring, said yesterday that the sides had made some progress on a new deal but needed help getting "across the finish line."

An e-commerce company that once provided services to clients including the clothing lines of Victoria Beckham and Phillip Lim has declared bankruptcy, Crain’s New York Business reported today. Sellect Commerce, a Manhattan-based fashion-oriented e-commerce platform, filed for chapter 11 protection on May 16. Sellect helps fashion companies to speed up their websites, provides better tracking of orders and social media integration, and includes a simple user-face to upload and manage content. A year ago Sellect decided to hire additional coders to fix the site and at least retain its existing clients, but faced with a limited supply of available "ruby on rails" highly-proficient coders, Sellect brought in development company Cyrus Innovations to help fix the code. In the end, the hiring of Cyrus put a major strain on Sellect's finances. Cyrus currently holds a claim of $135,220 from Sellect.

A federal judge has agreed to slow the chapter 11 case of Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd., scheduling a four-day trial in the middle of next month, as the parties gear up for a battle over how much the dry bulk shipper is worth, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane scheduled the first day of the trial for June 12, with the likely conclusion on June 24 and a week-long recess in between. The hearing had initially been slated for June 3. (Subscription required.)
http://bankruptcynews.dowjones.com/Article?an=DJFDBR0020140523ea5nloch6…

Valuation is often a key component in chapter 11 cases. To learn more, purchase ABI’s A Practical Guide to Bankruptcy Valuation from the ABI Bookstore.
http://bookstore.abi.org/practical-guide-bankruptcy-valuation

A bankruptcy court judge on Friday approved a $570 million financing package to get Momentive Performance Materials through bankruptcy, over the objections of unsecured creditors who say the deal will threaten their recoveries, Reuters reported yesterday. Momentive, the maker of silicone and quartz products that is owned by private equity group Apollo Global Management LLC, filed for chapter 11 protection in April with a prearranged restructuring that had the support of key stakeholders. The plan, which still needs court approval, includes a $600 million rights offering and $1.3 billion in exit loans from JPMorgan Chase & Co. To get Momentive through chapter 11, JPMorgan also arranged financing in the form of a $300 million loan and a $270 million credit facility. The bulk of that package had already been approved by Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain, but unsecured creditors, including Aurelius Capital Management, objected this month to the approval of the rest.

The chapter 11 protection of Texas's largest power company, Energy Future Holdings, will remain with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, the judge handling the case ruled on Thursday, Reuters reported on Friday. Energy Future filed one of the largest nonfinancial bankruptcies ever in April in Delaware, where the company's subsidiaries are incorporated. The company has $42 billion in debt. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi rejected arguments by a trustee for junior creditors that the case should be in Dallas, where the company is headquartered, because it would better serve employees and regulators.

An attorney for Overseas Shipholding Group Inc., one of the world's largest publicly traded tanker holding companies, told a U.S. judge on Friday a deal was close with noteholders that would clear the way for creditors to vote on its bankruptcy exit plan, Reuters reported on Friday. Noteholders agreed to drop their objection to the company's $1.5 billion rights offering for a chance to participate in the stock sale, said Luke Barefoot, an attorney with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, which represents the company. The rights offering is a key component to Overseas Shipholding's exit plan and would allow existing stockholders to buy newly issued stock in the company. The plan is also backed with $1.35 billion in financing from Jefferies Finance.

Beleaguered Specialty Hospitals of America LLC filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday with a plan to sell its Washington, D.C., health care facilities to hedge fund Silver Point Capital, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. Silver Point's proposed purchase of Boston-based Specialty's long-term acute care hospitals via an auction process supervised by the bankruptcy court marks the culmination of weeks of uncertainty about the fate of the company's hospitals and nursing homes. The deal will enable Specialty's two long-term acute-care hospitals in Washington, D.C.'s Capitol Hill and Southwest sections, as well as its two nursing homes, to continue to serve more than 300 patients.

A group of creditors attempting to force defunct consumer law firm Jacoby & Meyers Bankruptcy LLP into chapter 11 protection are urging a court to rule that bankruptcy is the best way to protect unhappy clients left in the lurch by the firm’s demise, The Wall Street Journal Law Blog reported Wednesday. In a Tuesday filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, creditors like online document service Legal Zoom say that “the total lack of disclosure and transparency” surrounding the firm’s December 2013 closure prompted them to file an involuntary bankruptcy petition against the firm in March. Jacoby & Meyers Bankruptcy was formed in June 2012 as an alliance between national consumer firm Jacoby & Meyers LLC and the bankruptcy practice of Chicago lawyer Thomas Macey. A year and a half later, Jacoby & Meyers Bankruptcy closed and put itself into the hands of a trust intended to liquidate the firm and repay its debts. Creditors say the firm’s trustee isn’t going far enough and would like to see the firm unwound through bankruptcy. Representatives from the defunct firm and those bringing the involuntary petition are scheduled to appear May 28 before Judge Shelley Chapman.

An attorney for Texas's leading power company, bankrupt Energy Future Holdings, said at a court hearing yesterday that it will delay seeking court approval of a restructuring support agreement that lays a path out of chapter 11, Reuters reported yesterday. At the start of a two-day hearing on a request to move the bankruptcy case to Dallas from Wilmington, Del., Edward Sassower said that Energy Future will postpone to June 30 from June 6 a hearing to approve its restructuring support agreement. The agreement commits the company to meet certain milestones on its way to slash its $42 billion in debt. Creditors wanted more time to study the deal.