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Bankruptcy Judge Mary F. Walrath has approved a $106 million debtor-in-financing package that allows Durham, N.C.-based Reichhold Inc. to continue its resin and coatings plant operations in Durham, the Triangle Business Journal reported yesterday. The judge, however, also granted permission to sell many of the chemical company's assets through a sale scheduled for Jan. 6. Reichhold Holdings US Inc., the U.S.-based branch of the Reichhold Group, filed for chapter 11 protection in September. Reichhold affiliates outside of the U.S. are not included in the bankruptcy petitions. The petition, filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, listed more than $500 million in debt that the company owed and less than $500 million in assets.

Elliott Management Corp. has been adding to derivatives trades that would pay off if Caesars Entertainment Corp. defaults as the hedge fund helps orchestrate a bankruptcy plan for the casino operator’s biggest unit, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The hedge fund, run by billionaire Paul Singer, one of Caesars’s biggest bondholders, bought credit-default swaps before entering negotiations with Caesars in September and has continued to purchase the derivatives. Caesars, the most-indebted U.S. gambling operator, is attempting to reorganize $18.4 billion of borrowings after losing money every year since 2009. The Las Vegas-based company said in August that creditors that also own swaps were trying to push it into default. The swaps transactions may explain why Caesars’s discussions with its creditors have focused on a potential Jan. 14 bankruptcy filing when the company says it has enough cash to meet its debt obligations through next year.

Struggling electronics retailer RadioShack Corp. says that it will stop matching employees’ retirement-fund contributions and close stores to help cut costs, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. RadioShack will discontinue matching for 401(k) and 1165(e) plans on Feb. 1, according to an internal memo from Chief Executive Officer Joe Magnacca that was obtained by Bloomberg. The company plans to close as many as 1,100 stores in its next fiscal year, contingent upon consent from lenders, some of which have blocked attempts to shut them. RadioShack is also reviewing health benefits, according to the memo.

The trustee overseeing the bankruptcy of a Massachusetts pharmacy linked to a 2012 meningitis outbreak that killed 64 people filed a plan that would set aside at least $135 million to compensate victims and their families, Reuters reported yesterday. The plan was filed after a federal bankruptcy court in July approved a deal to settle scores of lawsuits against New England Compounding Center (NECC). NECC shut down in October 2012 after authorities linked it to the worst outbreak of fungal meningitis in U.S. history due to drugs it shipped to health providers across the country. The company filed for bankruptcy two months later. Owners of NECC, which produced a tainted steroid that sickened more than 700 people in 20 states, have already contributed nearly $50 million to the NECC estate for eventual distribution and are expected to contribute additional sums through tax refunds and the sale of a related business.

The owner of a shopping center in Boynton Beach, Fla., filed for chapter 11 to halt a foreclosure lawsuit by a subsidiary of BBX Capital Corp. and then filed a lawsuit against its lender, the South Florida Business Journal reported today. BankAtlantic hit Grove Plaza D and owners Jack Lupo, Dale Goldstein, Brian Horowitz, Gary Axelrod and Michael Rauch with a foreclosure lawsuit in 2012. After the bank was sold, the loan was assigned to Florida Asset Resolution Group, owned by former bank parent company BBX Capital in Fort Lauderdale. The litigation concerns the 12,236-square-foot retail plaza on 1.2 acres. The interest-only mortgage was made for $2.7 million in 2008, but it has ballooned to over $5 million with the default interest rate.

Maine's shuttered Great Northern Paper Co. is selling its assets for $5.4 million to Los Angeles-based Hackman Capital Partners, an investment firm that focuses on the purchase and sale of industrial real estate and equipment, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported yesterday. Since its September bankruptcy filing, Great Northern has said that it hoped to find a buyer to restart its mill operations, which current owner Cate Street Capital halted earlier this year.

A judge approved private-equity fund manager Z Capital Partners’ purchase of the Canyon Ranch Hotel & Spa in Miami Beach, which a Lehman Brothers affiliate put into bankruptcy protection earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Shelley C. Chapman last week approved the $21.6 million sale to Z Capital, a deal that a disgruntled group of Canyon Ranch condo owners who wanted to buy the property had fought in court. However, Z Capital and another group of Canyon Ranch condo owners that already supported the deal have reportedly reached a compromise with the disgruntled group that satisfies their objections. Details of the compromise weren’t disclosed.

Unsecured creditors of the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee could recover as much as 90 cents on the dollar under the nonprofit's restructuring plan, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. The Milwaukee YMCA will use the proceeds from the sale of several of its fitness facilities, among other assets, to repay debts that topped $29 million as of its chapter 11 filing in June, according to the chapter 11 reorganization plan filed on Sunday in bankruptcy court.

Total bankruptcy filings in the U.S. for November 2014 decreased 16 percent compared to the previous year, according to data provided by Epiq Systems, Inc. November bankruptcy filings totaled 62,403, down from the 74,070 filings registered in November 2013. Total commercial filings for November 2014 were 2,248, representing a 27 percent decrease from the 3,085 filings reported during the same period in 2013. Commercial chapter 11 filings totaled 296 in November, a 39 percent decrease from the 487 filed in November 2013. The 60,155 total noncommercial filings for November represented a 15 percent drop from the November 2013 noncommercial filing total of 70,985.

Troubled Dutch sportscar maker Spyker has filed for protection from its creditors and appointed an administrator to help it restructure, Reuters reported yesterday. The company, formed in 2000 to resurrect an early 20th century Dutch auto marque, once fielded a Formula 1 racing team and briefly owned Swedish auto maker Saab before selling it on to Chinese-owned NEVS AB in 2012. Spyker has had a bumpy history since its revival, almost going under after selling the F1 team in 2007 at a loss, and again after its 2010 purchase of Saab foundered, forcing it to seek outside help. Earlier this year, a U.S. court dismissed the company's $3 billion lawsuit against General Motors. Spyker had accused General Motors of derailing its plan to sell Saab to a different Chinese buyer from the one that subsequently bought it.