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Pantech Co., a South Korean mobile-phone maker, has sought the protection of a U.S. court as part of its larger restructuring efforts abroad, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. The company filed for chapter 15 protection at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Atlanta on Thursday. In August, the company filed for the equivalent of chapter 11 in South Korea after months of trying to restructure its debt. Pantech listed 14 continuing lawsuits in the U.S., all related to patent disputes. Pantech relies on sales in South Korea for the majority of its 1.3 trillion won ($1.2 billion) in annual revenue, but it faces heavy competition and a saturated market. The company was also hit with government restrictions on excessive handset subsidies earlier this year, which resulted in penalties for South Korea’s three mobile carriers, including a 45-day ban on smartphone sales.

Alco Stores Inc., a 198-store retailer largely serving small towns in 23 states, can finance the reorganization it began last week in Dallas with an interim loan capped at $50 million and letters of credit from pre-bankruptcy secured lenders led by Wells Fargo Bank NA, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. A bankruptcy judge on Friday signed an interim order approving the loan and allowing the company to use cash representing collateral for secured lenders’ claims. Alco filed for chapter 11 protection on Oct. 12 with a commitment from the lenders to provide senior secured financing consisting of a $110 million revolving credit and a term loan of about $12.7 million. In addition to funding the chapter 11 effort, the loans will be used to repay pre-bankruptcy debt. A hearing to approve the financing package on a final basis is scheduled for Nov. 12.

Marc Dreier, the New York lawyer convicted of defrauding hedge funds of $400 million, won’t have to testify in person in a trial involving his bankrupt law firm, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Dreier, who is serving a 20-year term at Sandstone Federal Correctional Institution in Minnesota, had been ordered to testify in a proceeding seeking to recover for creditors $137 million transferred to Westford Asset Management LLC before the fraud became public. A lawyer for Sheila Gowan, a court-appointed administrator overseeing the bankruptcy of Dreier LLP, told U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan in a letter yesterday that the dispute has been settled and Dreier’s testimony isn’t needed. The letter didn’t provide details of the agreement, which must be approved by a bankruptcy judge before it can take effect. Dreier was to have testified about whether his fraud was a Ponzi scheme, when it began and whether the payments to Westford were made as part of the scheme, according to court papers. He had asked to testify by video or telephone rather than appear in person. Dreier pleaded guilty in May 2009 to money laundering, conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud after admitting to stealing $400 million by selling fake notes to hedge funds. Dreier used the money to subsidize his firm and buy luxuries for himself, including a 121-foot yacht and $39 million in contemporary art.

A North Carolina resin manufacturer and its affiliates that have been named in numerous asbestos lawsuits have filed for chapter 11 protection in order to address its current and future asbestos liability, the Washington Examiner reported yesterday. Reichhold Holdings US, Inc. voluntarily filed its petition for relief on Sept. 30 and is joined by affiliates Reichhold, Inc., Canadyne Corp. and Canadyne-Georgia Corp. The company announced that it has arranged $130 million in financing from its bondholders to fund continuing operations, of which $100 million will be available to Reichhold, Inc., in the form of debtor-in-possession financing if the court approves.

Chilean bus operator Inversiones Alsacia SA sought bankruptcy protection in a U.S. court, saying fare evasion and declining ridership have made it difficult to meet financial obligations, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The company, Santiago’s biggest bus operator, listed assets of as much as $500 million and debt of as much as $1 billion in a chapter 11 filing yesterday. Alsacia, which missed an August $39.6 million payment on notes due in 2018, filed in New York because it has assets in the city’s banks. Its filing included a proposed debt exchange that has creditor backing.

The trustee handling the 38 Studios’ bankruptcy case in Delaware is making his latest bid to recover money from the people and companies that did business with the failed Providence, R.I.-based video-game company, the Providence Journal reported today.
The complaint filed on Oct. 3 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware by trustee Jeoffrey Burtch said that lawyer Michael Corso should not have been paid $232,800 shortly before the company collapsed because 38 Studios “was insolvent on the date that such transfer was made.” The payment was just some of the money paid out to vendors in the waning days of the company’s existence. 38 Studios filed for federal bankruptcy in June 2012, just months after it released its first video game. The company never completed the more-complicated game, which underpinned a $75 million loan guarantee that the R.I. Economic Development Corp. gave it to move to Providence.

A northeast Arkansas county fair association says that it will pay all of its creditors and seek bankruptcy protection, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The Craighead County Fair Association operates the annual Northeast Arkansas District Fair. The Jonesboro Sun reports that it's almost $10 million in debt from moving the fair's location to a larger site on Johnson Avenue. Fair Board president Michael Cureton said some factors in the debt included unexpected expenses in selling the old property and overrunning costs at the new site. Contractors began filing liens against the fairgrounds property in 2012 after they stopped receiving payments. Starting last year, some have filed foreclosure lawsuits.

Global Naps Inc. sought chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday, years after being placed into a receivership to satisfy a court loss to Verizon New England Inc., Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Bankruptcy court papers estimate assets of $10 million to $50 million and debts of $50 million to $100 million for the company, which was established as a competitive local exchange carrier. A federal appeals court ruling from last year involved a decade-plus of litigation between Global Naps and Verizon New England, which is listed in bankruptcy court papers as the top-ranking creditor, owed nearly $36 million.

Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi has approved Energy Future Holding’s plan to award $20 million in bonuses to top executives despite objections from the U.S. Trustee’s office, the Dallas Morning News reported today. Judge Sontchi said at a hearing yesterday that the bonus programs met legal standards in that it incentivized performance and was not designed solely to keep executives from leaving the company. EFH, formerly TXU Corp., filed for bankruptcy in April, seven years after it was taken private for $45 billion, the largest leveraged buyout in U.S. history.

The judge overseeing the mysterious bankruptcy of an Apple Inc. sapphire supplier yesterday voiced skepticism over the widespread sealing of documents in the case, saying that he is "not seeing the kind of trade secrets" that would warrant sealing, Reuters reported yesterday. Scant information has emerged since GT Advanced Technologies Inc. filed for bankruptcy last week, wiping out most of its market value and triggering speculation as to what may have soured its Apple relationship and torpedoed its prospects. Key court filings revealing the reasons for the bankruptcy, which are routine in most chapter 11 cases, have in this case been filed with the court in secret. GT Advanced cited strict confidentiality requirements in its Apple contracts which, if violated, carry fines of $50 million.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-judge-gt-advanced-bankruptcy-200611692…

In related news, New Hampshire and the U.S. Justice Department want to know why GT Advanced Technologies Inc. filed for bankruptcy just 10 months after announcing a multiyear supply agreement with Apple Inc., Bloomberg News reported yesterday. GT Advanced, based in Merrimack, N.H., should be ordered to file a public account of what led to the bankruptcy, including key transactions with Apple, according to both the U.S. Trustee supervising the company’s bankruptcy and the state of New Hampshire. “Public scrutiny of a debtor’s conduct and transparency in the bankruptcy process is essential to fostering confidence among creditors and parties in interest regarding the fundamental fairness of the bankruptcy system,” the U.S. Trustee wrote in court papers yesterday, urging a judge to order disclosure.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2014-10-14/gt-advanced-must-disclos…