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Philosophy Skin Care Founder Buys Her Startup Out of Bankruptcy

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Archetypes, a startup that flew under the radar of the New York tech scene, burned through more than $19 million in just two years on a website that never launched out of beta, CNNMoney.com reported yesterday. Archetypes raised debt from its executive chairman, Philosophy cosmetics founder Cristina Carlino, but it was not enough to stay in business. In November, the company filed for chapter 11 protection with between $10 million and $50 million in liabilities owed to between 50 and 99 debtors. On Jan. 16, Archetypes emerged from bankruptcy thanks to Carlino, who already owned 49.5 percent of the company. Archetypes was acquired by CC Bridge Lender, the vehicle which Carlino used to provide debt.

Settlement Paves Way for 150 Million Payment to ResCap

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Subprime mortgage lender Residential Capital LLC has reached an agreement with a group of insurers that guarantees a $150 million payment — part of parent-company Ally Financial Inc .'s larger $2.1 billion contribution — to its bankruptcy estate later this year, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Pending approval of the settlement from Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn, Ally will pay ResCap's creditors the first $150 million it collects from insurance carriers within 30 days of receiving those funds. The remaining $1.95 million is to be paid in cash by Sept. 30. A hearing related to the settlement is scheduled for Feb. 20.

MF Global Creditor Seeks Accounting of Liquidation Costs

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MF Global Inc.’s trustee should be forced to account for expenses he has racked up liquidating the commodity brokerage, said a creditor that claims the case has cost more than $263 million in professional fees, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Winding down MF Global has been proportionately more expensive than Lehman Brothers Inc.’s more complex liquidation, Knighthead Capital Management LLC said in papers filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. Knighthead said total fees for MF Global Inc. have reached $263.2 million, including attorney fees of $55.9 million. The fund seeks a Feb. 13 court hearing to demand more information about costs from James Giddens, the trustee who oversaw the liquidations of both MF Global Inc. and Lehman Brothers Inc. under the Securities Investor Protection Act.

MM&A Derailment Victims Families File Payment Plan

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The relatives of those killed in last summer’s train derailment in Quebec are turning to former U.S. Senator George Mitchell to make sure they get paid in the railway company’s bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Attorneys representing holders of wrongful death claims against Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway Ltd. in connection with last July’s derailment in Lac-Mégantic filed a creditor-payment plan yesterday on the railway’s behalf in bankruptcy court. Court papers show Sen. Mitchell, a Democrat who represented Maine in the U.S. Senate from 1980 to 1995, would administer the plan and lead the effort to wrap up MM&A’s chapter 11 bankruptcy following the railway’s $15.85 million sale to a unit of Fortress Investment Group LLC.

Judge Approves 54 Million Sale of Pros Ranch Chain

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Two families that own major Hispanic-oriented grocery store chains throughout the Southwest got approval from a federal judge Tuesday to purchase the struggling Pro's Ranch Market chain's 11 stores out of bankruptcy, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. After reviewing the purchase offer at a court hearing, Bankruptcy Judge Sarah Sharer Curley said that she would approve it, according to Pro's Ranch Market attorney Frederick Petersen. The buyers' offer is worth about $53.6 million, according to court documents.

Stockton Diocese Liable in Abuse Cases Wins Initial Bankruptcy Approval

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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton, Calif., which is the 10th Catholic diocese in the U.S. to enter chapter 11 protection as a result of increasing sexual-abuse claims, has received a judge's approval of its initial bankruptcy requests, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The ruling by Bankruptcy Judge Christopher M. Klein on Friday will allow the diocese to continue to pay its 37 salaried employees and seven hourly employees, according to court papers. Bishop Stephen E. Blaire said that the diocese, which filed for bankruptcy Jan. 15, has spent $14 million in legal settlements and judgments over the past 20 years as it dealt with abuse allegations, and doesn't have funds available to settle pending lawsuits or address allegations in the future. In all, the diocese estimated its total liabilities at between $10 million and $50 million, according to its bankruptcy petition.

Judge Rejects Kodak Shareholder Claims

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Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper on Friday ruled against a variety of former Eastman Kodak Co. shareholders hoping the company would compensate them for stock that is now worthless, the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle reported today. Judge Gropper filed a series of rulings agreeing with Kodak objections to claims filed by the shareholders. The claims were filed in recent months by Kodak shareholders who saw their stock get canceled in September when the company emerged from its 20-month chapter 11 bankruptcy. The claims ranged from hundreds of dollars to more than $100,000.

Former TWA Pilots Settle Fight with Union for 53 Million

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A top airline pilot union has signed a deal to end its dispute with former Trans World Airlines pilots who had accused the union of poorly representing them during their integration into American Airlines operations, which bought Trans World Airlines out of bankruptcy in 2001, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. The Air Line Pilots Association has agreed to pay part of a $53 million settlement reach earlier this week with TWA's roughly 2,300 former pilots, who had sued the union over the seniority they got as new American Airlines pilots.

Ergen Hedge Funds Fighting over LightSquared Loan

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Dish Network Corp. Chairman Charlie Ergen is again fighting with a group of hedge funds that hold LightSquared's bank debt, this time over which side should be providing a short-term bankruptcy loan to keep LightSquared afloat, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. In a court filing on Thursday, lawyers for Ergen's SPSO Special Opportunities investment vehicle said the $33 million loan offer from the hedge funds to keep LightSquared afloat through April 15 is "inferior" to theirs. Ergen's loan, his lawyers said, "is not a coercive financing designed to benefit select parties in interest rather than the estate as a whole." After months of being on the same side in LightSquared's bankruptcy case, Ergen and the ad hoc group of hedge funds have been adversaries since Dish withdrew its $2.2 billion bid for LightSquared's spectrum assets earlier this month. The hedge funds, which like Ergen own LightSquared's bank debt, had filed a restructuring proposal for LightSquared based on the bid trying to force Dish into making the deal. However, a judge turned them down earlier last week, saying Dish properly abandoned its offer.

Battle Over Insurance in Milwaukee Archdiocese Bankruptcy Heats Up

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The Archdiocese of Milwaukee filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in bankruptcy court seeking to recover more than $2.6 million in legal fees from the firm now known as OneBeacon Insurance Co., the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported today. On the same day, OneBeacon asked Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley to lift the automatic stay imposed by the bankruptcy on all litigation involving the archdiocese so the Wisconsin Supreme Court can decide once and for all whether the insurer is liable for the church's actions related to the sexual abuse of children. The filings come as the archdiocese is completing work on a reorganization plan that will detail how it plans to compensate creditors, including victims, and finance its continued operations. The plan is expected to include millions of dollars in legal fees.