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Energy Future Holdings said yesterday that it has extended a deadline to file its annual report, giving the company more time to negotiate with creditors as it seeks an agreement to reduce its crushing debt, Reuters reported yesterday. The former TXU Corp was expected to report yesterday that its auditor had determined it could not survive as a going concern, a finding that would have triggered a default on its loans and a likely bankruptcy filing. The company said that it has extended that deadline, but did not say for how long. It added that it will miss an interest payment due today, but has a grace period in which to make the payments before a default.

Aetna AET won a judicial ruling giving it access to filings made by asbestos claimants in the bankruptcy of gasket maker Garlock Sealing Technologies, opening a new front in the battle between plaintiff lawyers and companies that accuse them of double-dipping and fraud, Forbes.com reported on Friday. Bankruptcy Judge George R. Hodges on Thursday granted the motion of Aetna to examine Rule 2019 statements lawyers have filed in the Garlock bankruptcy. The statements require lawyers to identify clients with claims against the bankrupt company as well as the nature of those claims. Aetna is one of several insurers seeking asbestos claims information to try and recover medical expenses from customers who have been paid for the same costs through litigation. Judge Hodges denied similar requests from Ford, Volkswagen, and other companies that are seeking access to other sealed documents from a trial over Garlock’s asbestos liabilities. The judge deferred that request, saying it is already being considered by a federal court weighing an appeal by Legal Newsline, a publication funded by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform.

Energy Future Holdings Corp., the power producer taken private in the biggest-ever leveraged buyout, moved a step closer to a bankruptcy plan after a key creditor neared a reorganization agreement, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday. Fidelity Investments, which holds some of Energy Future’s $45.6 billion of debt, is hashing out terms for the plan, which is being discussed by the power producer’s management, two groups of unsecured creditors and the private-equity owners who took it over. The investment firm’s participation in negotiations is crucial because it enables Energy Future to enter bankruptcy with a pre-arranged plan that would reduce the time it takes to reorganize in chapter 11. Fidelity has been a holdout among creditors to the company formerly known as TXU Corp., which KKR & Co., TPG Capital and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners bought for $48 billion in 2007.

The owner of a handful of popular Washington D.C. bars and restaurants — including legendary Capitol Hill watering hole Hawk ‘n’ Dove — filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Baltimore-based Barrack’s Row Entertainment filed for chapter 11 protection, putting eating spots like Hawk ‘n’ Dove, Senart’s Oyster House and The Chesapeake Room into protection with it. Barrack’s Row, which is owned by a group of investors, said that it has between $1 million and $10 million in debt.

The owner of the Spencer's retail chain may be facing some competition in its bid for consumer electronics retailer Brookstone Inc., the Wall Street Journal reported today. The company that owns e-commerce retailer Monoprice is preparing an all-cash bid for Brookstone that would challenge Spencer Sprit Holdings Inc.'s offer, which includes $120 million in cash and the assumption of Brookstone debt. Spencer earlier offered to serve as the lead bidder at an auction for Brookstone, which is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection in the coming days. Monoprice's owner, Blucora Inc., would merge the two retailers if its bid is successful, the people said. Blucora bought Monoprice, an Internet seller of electronics accessories, in 2013.

An investor has accused the hedge fund billionaire Philip A. Falcone of using his publicly listed company “to bail himself out” after a reaching an $18 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the New York Times DealBook blog reported yesterday. In the weeks after the SEC settlement last August, Falcone’s hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners was confronted with a flurry of requests from investors to return their money, according to a complaint filed by a Harbinger Group shareholder, Haverhill Retirement System. In a desperate attempt to find capital to replace the money flowing out, according to the lawsuit, Falcone sold some shares in Harbinger Group, where he is chief executive. He later sold additional shares and added two seats to the board of directors, eventually securing a $400 million investment by the Leucadia National Corporation, the suit contends.

The U.S. Treasury Department plans to sell more than half of its remaining shares of Ally Financial Inc. as part of an initial public offering of the auto lender, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The Treasury said yesterday that it intends to sell 95 million shares in its latest move to further wind down its ownership stake. Ally and Treasury said Thursday that the agency would offer the shares at $25 to $28 apiece. In total, the deal could raise $3.06 billion, Ally said. The Treasury, which currently owns 177.3 million shares of Ally, also granted underwriters the option to buy an additional 14.25 million shares. The move is another milestone for the Detroit-based company that teetered on the brink of collapse during the financial crisis, weighed down by losses and litigation tied to subprime mortgages. To keep Ally afloat, the Treasury provided $17.2 billion in rescue funds to the company through the Troubled Asset Relief Program. To date, the government has recouped about $15.3 billion of that amount.

Energy Future Holdings Corp., the Texas utility at the center of a record private-equity buyout, is in last-ditch negotiations with creditors in a bid to reach a debt-restructuring deal before it seeks chapter 11 protection, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The Dallas-based power company's lenders and bondholders have signed confidentiality agreements within the last week in the hopes of reaching a deal that would help shorten Energy Future's trip through bankruptcy court. The agreements allow creditors to review the company's nonpublic financial records. Energy Future, formerly called TXU Corp., is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection as soon as April 1. That is around the time the company must file an annual report with federal regulators, in which it is likely to reveal it has received an opinion from auditors expressing doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. Such an opinion would trigger a default on billions of dollars in debt that would force the utility to file for bankruptcy protection.

The judge in LightSquared Inc.’s bankruptcy has been excluding some parties from closed-door conferences, possibly hindering a resolution of the case, two companies underwriting the wireless broadband provider’s reorganization said, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The lenders, Melody Business Finance LLC and Centaurus Capital LP, wrote a letter to Bankruptcy Judge Shelley Chapman yesterday to address what they called their “exclusion” by the court from an off-the-record conference in her chambers yesterday. Philip Falcone’s LightSquared is seeking approval of a bankruptcy exit plan that would put Dish Network Corp. Chairman Charles Ergen at the back of the line to be repaid and close a two-year battle for control of the company’s airwaves. Hearings are under way to determine the status of Ergen’s $1 billion claim and get approval of the reorganization.

Brookstone Inc., which sells consumer gadgets ranging from travel electronics to massage chairs, is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection as early as Sunday, with a plan in place to be bought by another specialty retailer, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Egg Harbor Township, N.J.-based Spencer Spirit Holdings Inc., which owns Spencer's and costume retailer Spirit, has been in discussions with Brookstone for weeks as Brookstone battles disappointing sales, weak liquidity and a hefty debt load. The two parties are hoping to finalize sale paperwork over the weekend leading up to a bankruptcy filing. Spencer Spirit Holdings is expected to pay around $120 million for Brookstone, which has about $140 million in debt.