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Quiznos Reorg Sees Lawsuit over 2012 Recap Misrepresentations

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Quiznos’ proposed reorganization plan, filed in bankruptcy court on Friday provides for holders of claims under the company’s first-lien credit facility to receive pro rata shares of an amended $200 million first-lien credit facility and 100 percent of the reorganized company’s equity, subject to dilution, Forbes.com reported yesterday. The first-lien credit facility has $444.7 million outstanding, according to court filings. The amended $200 million term facility would have a five-year term, and carry interest at 15 percent for the first 18 months, in-kind, and 10 percent thereafter, in cash, according to a proposed term sheet filed with the bankruptcy court.

Astros Want Lawsuit Against McLane Comcast Moved Back to State Court

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The Houston Astros have asked Bankruptcy Judge Marvin Isgur to return their civil lawsuit against Comcast, NBC Universal and former Astros owner Drayton McLane to state district court, where it originally was filed last November, the Houston Chronicle reported today. The request comes a week before Judge Isgur is scheduled to hold a long-delayed hearing in the lawsuit, an offshoot of the chapter 11 bankruptcy case involving the parent company of Comcast SportsNet Houston. Houston Baseball Partners, the corporate name for the investor group headed by Jim Crane, alleges that McLane, Comcast and NBC Universal conspired to commit fraud in conjunction with McLane’s sale of the Astros and their 46.5 percent share of Houston Regional Sports Network in 2011. Houston Regional Sports Network is the parent company of CSN Houston and is a partnership among the Astros, Rockets (31 percent ownership) and Comcast (22.5 percent). The McLane-Comcast lawsuit was moved to federal bankruptcy court at the request of Comcast in the wake of the involuntary chapter 11 bankruptcy petition filed by four Comcast affiliates. The Astros, however, argue that the case belongs in state court and that it was moved improperly.

Milwaukee Archdiocese Outlines Details of Therapy Fund

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The Archdiocese of Milwaukee has for the first time outlined the details of a payment process that, if approved, could provide counseling and therapy to hundreds of individuals who allege they were sexually abused by the archdiocese's priests, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. In a document filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Milwaukee, the archdiocese spelled out specific procedures that will allow eligible holders of sexual-abuse claims to access a $500,000 trust, established as part of a larger restructuring plan, to fund counseling for the victims' lifetime.

Fisker Creditors Allege Heavy-Handed Tactics in Loan Auction

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Charges of heavy-handed tactics have surfaced in a fight over the cash raised in the sale of Fisker Automotive Inc., a failed maker of luxury hybrid autos, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Fisker filed for chapter 11 protection last year and was put up for auction after a struggle between unsecured creditors and a company controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li, who was poised to seize the car maker. The dispute comes in the wake of an auction where China's Wanxiang Group outbid Li's takeover company, Hybrid Tech. Now the fight is over the sale proceeds, with unsecured creditors challenging Hybrid Tech's claim to the cash from the $149.2 million sale.

LightSquared Seeks to Disallow Ergens No Vote on Plan

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LightSquared Inc. said that it will ask a judge not to count a “no” vote on its bankruptcy reorganization plan cast by a fund controlled by Dish Network Corp. Chairman Charles Ergen, saying that the fund acted in bad faith, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The fund, SP Special Opportunities LLP, owns $1 billion of debt in LightSquared, the wireless broadband company controlled by Philip Falcone’s Harbinger Capital Partners LLC. LightSquared has accused Ergen of secretly accumulating the debt so he can buy the company’s airwaves for a below-market price through bankruptcy. Bankruptcy Judge Shelley Chapman on Feb. 24 approved the terms of a reorganization plan, which was then sent to creditors for a vote. The plan values LightSquared at $7.7 billion and doesn’t hinge on regulatory approval for airwaves that are its main asset. A denial of such approval pushed the company into bankruptcy in 2012.

Longview Wins Approval of Foster Wheeler Plant Repair Pact

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Longview Power LLC won approval yesterday of a key settlement with affiliates of German engineering firm Foster Wheeler AG, which has agreed to fix the boiler that has kept Longview's power plant from operating at full capacity, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Shannon approved the pact over the protests of two other contractors involved in building the troubled plant: an affiliate of Norwegian construction company Kvaerner ASA and Siemens Energy Inc., a unit of Siemens AG.

Court Order to Help Freedom Grand Jury Probe

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Bankruptcy Judge Ronald G. Pearson authorized Freedom Industries Inc., the company behind the West Virginia chemical spill, to continue cooperating with a federal grand jury investigation of the spill, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Judge Pearson specifically authorized Freedom to hire a digital investigations firm to help it gather and preserve electronic records in connection with the probe, court papers show. In its request to hire Vestige Ltd., Freedom said that it has been “coordinating with the relevant government agencies in good faith to comply with all of the electronic document requests.” Hiring Vestige at the quoted cost of $42,555 would allow it to continue cooperating with the probe and avoid “further legal action and/or sanctions from the governmental agencies and/or this court,” Freedom said. In addition to the grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice, Freedom disclosed it has also faced document requests from West Virginia’s attorney general, among others.

Court Upholds Dismissal of Claim in Milwaukee Archdiocese Bankruptcy

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A federal appeals court has upheld the dismissal of a claim in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy that was filed by a man who was molested by a priest at age 7 and who had signed a $100,000 settlement agreement with the church in 2007, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported today. John Pilmaier had filed a claim in the bankruptcy asserting that the archdiocese lied to him to induce him to sign the agreement. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Pilmaier's attorneys "failed to show that the alleged misrepresentations were a substantial factor in his decision to accept the settlement." The ruling upholds earlier decisions by Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley and U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa but applies a different legal standard. Pilmaier is one of about 90 individuals with prior settlements who filed claims in the bankruptcy alleging that they were misled by the archdiocese during their settlement talks. It was not immediately clear whether the appeals court decision in Pilmaier's case would affect other claims because of the narrow issues addressed by the court. The appellate decision focused not on whether the archdiocese misled Pilmaier, but whether he adequately stated what effect that alleged misrepresentation had on his decision to sign the settlement agreement.

Lehman Trustee Defends Lumping Together Workers Pay Claims

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The trustee in charge of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s failed brokerage defended his bid to consolidate the deferred-compensation claims of former Lehman employees into one proceeding, saying that doing so would save the estate money, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Lawyers for trustee James W. Giddens said in a court filing on Tuesday that consolidating the claims into one is the best option, contrary to the arguments of 340 former employees who want their complaints heard separately. Among other benefits, consolidation would keep Lehman from having to spend more in litigation, the lawyers said.

Company Behind Chemical Spill Cooperating With a Grand Jury

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Freedom Industries Inc., the now-bankrupt company behind last month's West Virginia chemical spill, said that it is cooperating with the grand jury investigation of the spill and said it needs to hire a firm to help with gathering and preserving its electronic records, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Along with the grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Justice Department, Freedom also said that the West Virginia Attorney General and several parties suing the company have asked for it to preserve its electronic records. Freedom filed for chapter 11 protection after being hit with about 20 lawsuits from individuals and business claiming damages from the environmental accident, in which about 10,000 gallons of a coal-treatment chemical spilled from a Freedom-owned site into the Elk River.