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Chrysler Group LLC said today that it has refinanced $5 billion of its debt to save money on interest payments in one of its first major moves since becoming a fully-owned unit of Italy's Fiat SpA last month, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The U.S. auto maker said that it has raised about $3.0 billion in bonds and secured $2.0 billion in new loans to pay off money owed to a labor-union trust nine years ahead of time. Chrysler said that it expected yearly interest expense savings of about $134 million between 2014 and 2016. But it will also take a non-cash charge of about $500 million.

The bankruptcy auction of the failed electric-vehicle maker Fisker Automotive remains on track after a federal district court judge’s ruling on Friday, the Associated Press reported on Saturday. The Delaware judge denied an emergency motion by Hybrid Technology, a group led by Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li, to appeal a previous ruling limiting how much debt it could use to buy Fisker. A bankruptcy judge had rejected Hybrid’s plan to use $75 million it claims it is owed as Fisker’s senior secured lender on the bid. He capped Hybrid’s credit bid at $25 million, setting up a competitive auction with Chinese auto parts conglomerate Wanxiang Group Corp., whose offer includes $35.7 million in cash. Hybrid is offering $30 million in cash for Fisker. The auction is scheduled for Wednesday.

Assistant U.S. Trustee Debra A. Wertman wants to investigate the ties between Freedom Industries Inc.'s bankruptcy lawyers and key parties in its chapter 11 case, including the company that acquired Freedom shortly before the chemical spill that tainted the water supply of a large swath of West Virginia, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported on Friday. Wertman is asking the bankruptcy court to give her and Freedom's creditors time to conduct a "full review" of disclosures of past client relationships by Freedom's bankruptcy lawyers at McGuireWoods LLP to ensure the firm doesn't have any conflicts of interest. "A preliminary review of McGuireWoods's disclosures, however, revealed several connections between McGuireWoods and key parties in this case that require further investigation," Wertman said in court papers filed on Wednesday.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is objecting to the sale of clinical laboratory operator MedLab, saying it violates regulations that protect patients' privacy, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. The federal agency said that the bankruptcy court shouldn't approve a sale that allows MedLab to provide customer lists as part of the sale of its assets, as is outlined in one potential deal.

Bankruptcy lawyers who are turning over Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway Ltd .'s operations to its new owner are running out of money. In a loan request filed to U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Bangor, Maine, lawyers in charge of the railway asked a bankruptcy judge for permission to borrow $1.8 million so the company — which filed for bankruptcy after a deadly train derailment July 6 in Quebec — can keep operating until its sale closes, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. In January, an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group won a bankruptcy auction with a $15.85 million offer for the railway, which operates more than 500 miles of track in Maine, Vermont and Quebec. Before the accident, the railroad company employed 179 people and operated about 15 trains daily with a fleet of 26 locomotives, according to court papers.

Bankruptcy Judge Peter Walsh on Tuesday approved Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings' $10.5 million offer as the lead bid at the bankruptcy auction of several Indiana-based assets of fellow clinical lab operator MedLab, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Judge Walsh also extended MedLab's exclusive control over the sale of its assets through April 23, according to court papers. The company's exclusivity period was set to expire Feb. 24. A successful sale would raise money to help pay off some of MedLab's $42 million debt. In court papers, the company said it owes about $21.6 million for a loan arranged by an affiliate of Marathon Asset Management, which has also agreed to extend a $5 million bankruptcy loan to cover some of the company's bankruptcy expenses.

Total bankruptcy filings in the United States decreased 13 percent in January from the same period last year, according to data provided by Epiq Systems, Inc. Bankruptcy filings totaled 68,153 in January 2014, down from the January 2013 total of 78,602. Consumer filings declined 13 percent in January 2014 to 65,263 from the January 2013 consumer filing total of 74,846. In addition, total commercial filings in January 2014 decreased to 2,890, representing a 23 percent decline from the 3,756 business filings recorded in January 2013. Total commercial chapter 11 filings fell 21 percent as January 2013’s 487 filings decreased to 387 commercial chapter 11 filings in January 2014. Click here to read the full press release.

Bankruptcy Judge Donald Steckroth on Monday found that labor contract changes requested by five HealthBridge Management LLC-owned skilled nursing facilities are essential to the survival of the businesses, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. The modifications, including changes to work hours and benefits for 700 union employees, will save the HealthBridge facilities $7.5 million per year during the next four years, according to court documents.

Bankruptcy Judge Shelley Chapman yesterday approved a $33 million loan from a group that includes Dish Network Corp. Chairman Charles Ergen, to keep wireless venture LightSquared afloat as it tries to hash out a bankruptcy exit plan, Reuters reported yesterday. LightSquared's equity owner, Phil Falcone's Harbinger Capital Partners, is fighting to keep control of the company in chapter 11. An investment vehicle owned by Ergen has bought up much of LightSquared's debt, while Dish offered and later withdrew a $2.2 billion offer to purchase the company's spectrum, an offer Harbinger did not accept. LightSquared, which had been on pace to run out of cash by March, needed a loan to be able to extend restructuring talks that could go past that.

The Texas-based operator of the Furr’s Fresh Buffet restaurant chain filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy on Tuesday, citing a surprising culprit for the move — the brutal winter weather, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Already crunched for cash by an effort to overhaul its restaurants, located throughout the Southwest, Buffet Partners LP said the December storm that brought ice and sleet to North Texas, leaving tens of thousands of people without power and stranding drivers, put a chill on its business. Buffet Partners, of Plano, Texas, said that it would use the breathing room of bankruptcy to restructure a debt load that tops $40 million. The chain, which employs more than 2,000 people, plans to continue operating its 29 restaurants in Arizona, Arkansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas during the chapter 11 case.