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The U.S. Department of Justice's bankruptcy watchdog on Friday questioned the feasibility of four competing restructuring plans for bankrupt LightSquared put forth by the company and its creditors, Reuters reported on Friday. The U.S. Trustee Program said that the plans would provide third parties with overly broad releases from potential legal claims. LightSquared, in bankruptcy since 2012, is fighting to keep control of its valuable spectrum amid a takeover push by Dish Network Corp. Three creditor groups have proposed plans that contemplate an auction for the assets, and Dish has already made a baseline bid of $2.2 billion. A fourth plan, proposed by LightSquared's majority owner, Phil Falcone's Harbinger Capital Partners, would restructure the company without an auction, with Harbinger maintaining control. The Trustee's office said that the restructuring plans could be read to protect third parties from claims related to criminal conduct and professional malpractice, even though they exclude fraud and gross negligence claims from the releases. The objection will be considered at a hearing on December 10 in Manhattan bankruptcy court.

Furniture Brands International Inc., the maker of Broyhill, Lane and Thomasville home furnishings, won court approval to sell almost all its assets to KPS Capital Partners LP for $280 million, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi granted approval of the sale at a hearing today in Wilmington, Delaware, overruling an objection from a shareholder that said a truncated sales process prevented Samson Holding Ltd. from making a competing bid. The furniture maker last week canceled its bankruptcy auction after saying it received no other qualified bids to challenge KPS. The New York-based private-equity firm should close the sale by today.

Two more firms that hired partners from Howrey amid its 2011 collapse have settled with the now-defunct firm's bankruptcy trustee, who has pushed aggressively to recover money for the Howrey estate under the so-called unfinished business doctrine, Am Law Daily reported on Friday. In the latest round of settlements, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft has agreed to pay the Howrey estate at least $600,000, and Washington, D.C.–area firm Ober Kaler has settled for an undisclosed amount. Both deals require the approval of Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali. The Cadwalader settlement is tied to seven litigation matters the firm took on when it hired former Howrey antitrust partners Peter Moll and Brian Wallach, according to a Thursday court filing. Relying on the unfinished business doctrine, trustee Allan Diamond claims the bankruptcy estate has an ownership right to those matters and deserves a portion of the money they generated.

Chrysler Group LLC is going full speed to get an IPO done by mid-December, ratcheting up pressure on the company's two owners to strike a deal that would allow majority owner, Fiat SpA, to buy full control before Chrysler lists, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Chrysler had initially targeted the IPO for the first quarter of 2014. The U.S. automaker and its underwriting banks are considering setting the price range to raise $1.5 billion to $2 billion, in a sale that would help monetize part of a minority stake held by a health-care trust affiliated with the United Auto Workers. The price range implies a total value for Chrysler of between $9 billion and $12 billion, based on the 16.6 percent stake the health trust has demanded that the company register for the IPO. The UAW trust has demanded the stock sale because it needs the money to pay out medical benefits to retired Chrysler workers. The trust, officially known as the UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust, took a stake in Chrysler during the auto maker's 2009 bankruptcy restructuring.

Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Cos. won court approval on Friday to take over about 150 Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market stores, salvaging most of Tesco Plc's U.S. grocery-chain venture, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey signed off on the deal, which is being financed by the British retailer with a $120 million loan, part of an agreement struck before Tesco put Fresh & Easy under chapter 11 protection.

The owner of Major League Baseball’s Houston Astros sued former owner Drayton McLane Jr. and Comcast Corp., claiming that he was misled about the value of the regional sports network that televises the team’s games, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Houston Baseball Partners LLC, led by Jim Crane, filed the lawsuit Nov. 21 in state court in Houston. The company said that it paid $615 million for the team and its 40 percent stake in Houston Regional Sports Network LP in November 2011 “based on knowing misrepresentations” McLane gave him concerning the network’s value. Creditors including affiliates of Philadelphia-based Comcast filed an involuntary chapter 11 bankruptcy petition against the network on Sept. 27 “to avoid the destruction of the network’s substantial value,” according to court filings. The network is owned by Comcast, the Astros and the National Basketball Association’s Houston Rockets. Comcast, the biggest U.S. cable operator, claimed it’s owed more than $100 million and the network hasn’t been paying its debts as they come due.

The U.S. Treasury Department said that it expected to sell its remaining shares of General Motors Co. by the end of the year, a plan that may leave taxpayers with a shortfall of about $10 billion on the automaker's 2009 bailout, Reuters reported yesterday. Treasury said yesterday that it had completed the sale of 70.2 million shares of GM stock and to date had recouped $38.4 billion from the $49.5 billion taxpayer-funded rescue of the Detroit company. At current prices, Treasury would recoup another $1.2 billion from its remaining stake of 31.1 million shares, bringing its total recovery to $39.6 billion. Treasury said that its initial cost basis for the GM shares was $43.52 per share. Treasury previously said that it expected to exit by April 2014, but analysts had expected it to move up the final sale date.

A group of consumers who have sued American Airlines' bankrupt parent over its proposed merger with US Airways Group are now objecting to a settlement that would allow that merger to go forward, Reuters reported yesterday. California resident Carolyn Fjord, leading a proposed class of plaintiffs in an antitrust lawsuit against the two airlines, filed court papers yesterday arguing that consumers would be hurt by the tie-up, which would create the world's largest airline. It was the only objection filed ahead of a midday deadline to oppose the settlement, which was reached earlier this month in a separate dispute between the airlines and the U.S. Department of Justice. The DOJ had blocked the deal, which was to serve as the basis for American parent AMR Corp's exit from bankruptcy. The sides settled after the airlines agreed to give low-cost competitors more access to several key U.S. airports, including in New York and Washington, D.C. The settlement still needs bankruptcy court approval before the merger can close and AMR can exit bankruptcy. A court hearing is scheduled for Monday.

A judge yesterday approved a $150 million financing package for Longview Power LLC that the company hopes will keep it afloat as it marches toward an exit from bankruptcy as soon as early 2014, Dow Jones Newswires reported yesterday. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Shannon approved the pact, which calls for lenders holding more than 60 percent of Longview's senior debt to provide new financing for Longview, so it can fix its power plant and continue with its restructuring. The debtor-in-possession loan comes amid an ongoing fight between Longview and the contractors who built its now troubled coal-fired power plant.

The stage is set for a Dec. 17 auction for Atlantic Club Casino Hotel, one of the smallest gambling operations on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. While a stalking-horse bidder has not yet emerged, an affiliate of Northlight Capital Partners has something of a pole position as lender of bankruptcy financing that may run as high as $15 million. The casino, owned by Colony Capital LLC, filed for chapter 11 protection Nov. 6.