Skip to main content

%1

Energy Future Warns That IRS Ruling Could Delay Bankruptcy Process

Submitted by webadmin on

Energy Future Holdings (EFH), the bankrupt Texas power giant, is warning that its restructuring plans could be put on hold if the IRS decides to pursue a more than $7 billion tax bill against the company, the Dallas Morning News reported on Friday. Dallas-based EFH is planning to sell off the transmission company Oncor at auction early next year. In court papers filed on Wednesday, EFH warned that if the IRS decides the power company must pay the taxes it could squash the deal. Companies including Hunt Consolidated, NextEra Energy, Berkshire Hathaway and CenterPoint Energy are reportedly examining a potential bid for Oncor. The federal bankruptcy judge in Delaware has ruled that EFH doesn’t have to publicly name the bidders.

Delaware Bankruptcy Judge Grants Motion to Move GNP Case to Maine

Submitted by webadmin on

A bankruptcy judge in Delaware on Friday granted a motion to move the pending bankruptcy of Great Northern Paper Co.’s East Millinocket operation to Maine, the Bangor (Maine) Daily News reported on Saturday. More than 20 creditors, including the towns of Millinocket and East Millinocket and the Maine attorney general, asked that the case be moved from Delaware to bankruptcy court in Maine because 56 percent of the 1,159 creditors are within the state. Attorneys for GNP objected to having the case moved from the state where the company was incorporated, in part, because a new trustee would have to be appointed to administer the case.

Author Zane Filed for Bankruptcy as Her New Movie Was in Production

Submitted by webadmin on

Zane, the best-selling author who has sold millions of steamy novels and is listed as executive producer of a new movie, Addicted, based on one of her books, filed for bankruptcy in June, months after being dubbed Maryland’s top individual tax cheat, the Washington Post reported yesterday. The Prince George’s County, Md.-based erotica author, who is sometimes compared to “Fifty Shades of Grey” writer E.L. James, filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Maryland on June 11. Zane, whose real name is Kristina Laferne Roberts, listed her total assets at more than $1.4 million, including her $950,000 “primary residence” in Upper Marlboro and a $530,000 “investment property” in Bowie, according to court records. She claimed total liabilities of more than $3.4 million, including $337,151.85 in back Maryland taxes and more than $1.4 million to creditors. She listed the amount that she owes the IRS as “unknown.”

Revel Asks for Approval of Sale to Brookfield

Submitted by webadmin on

Revel Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, N.J., will ask a bankruptcy court judge on Tuesday to approve a $110 million sale to Brookfield Property Partners, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Brookfield Property Partners was declared winning bidder on Wednesday at the end of a three-day auction for the property that began last week and continued into this week. But a Florida real-estate developer has vowed to continue to fight Brookfield for the property. Glenn Straub, who led the bidding for Revel, said the bid from Brookfield was conditioned — a violation of the casino’s court-approved bid rules. Straub started bidding at $90 million in cash and was bid up to $95.4 million before he was topped by Brookfield’s $110 million offer. Built at a cost of $2.4 billion, 47-story beachfront tower made its boardwalk debut in 2012 but failed to turn a profit, filing its second chapter 11 case in June.

Judge Fast-Tracks Milwaukee Archdioceses Bankruptcy

Submitted by webadmin on

A bankruptcy judge on Friday outlined a plan to address some of the most contentious issues in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee's chapter 11 proceeding, which has stretched on for nearly four years, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy News reported today. At a hearing at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Milwaukee, Judge Susan Kelley was emphatic that the case would proceed on a faster schedule, after a second round of mediation talks earlier this month failed to produce a settlement with hundreds of sexual-abuse claimants.

Judge Energy Future Doesnt Have to Disclose Oncor Bidders

Submitted by webadmin on

A bankruptcy judge said yesterday that Energy Future Holdings Corp. doesn't have to name names of the contenders as it searches for a lead bidder to open an auction for rights to its valuable Oncor stake, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. The ruling from Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi means that unhappy creditors won't get a peek behind the curtains of a process that they say could cost them billions of dollars. "The identity of bidders and bid details are off the table" as creditors question company officials in advance of an Oct. 17 court session where Energy Future will seek approval on rules for the auction, Judge Sontchi said at a hearing yesterday.

Trump Entertainment Plan Pegs Survival on Icahn Cuts

Submitted by webadmin on

Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc.’s restructuring plan hinges on billionaire Carl Icahn’s lender affiliates investing as much as $100 million and taking control of the company — if the Atlantic City, N.J., casino operator can get union concessions and tax breaks, Bloomberg News reported today. The company, which is trying to avoid closing its Taj Mahal casino next month, filed a restructuring plan in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, yesterday. Secured lenders controlled by Icahn would get 55 percent of the new equity and new debt for $292.2 million in claims under the plan. Approval of the plan is the “best opportunity” to emerge from bankruptcy and save thousands of jobs, Trump Entertainment lawyers said in the disclosure statement describing the plan. Lenders would make a $100 million equity investment if the company can reach a new labor agreement cutting costs and persuade local and state governments to reduce property taxes, according to court documents.

Reichhold Inc. Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Submitted by webadmin on

Chemical company Reichhold Inc. filed for chapter 11 protection yesterday after securing a pledge from its bondholders to fund its operations and purchase its business, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. The maker of resins used in a variety of industries said bondholders have pledged $130 million in financing, of which $100 million will be a debtor-in-possession loan, to fund the company's continuing operations during the chapter 11 case. Bondholders have also agreed to serve as stalking-horse bidder in a court-overseen auction of Reichhold's U.S. business.

Brookfield Wins Auction for Bankrupt Revel Casino

Submitted by webadmin on

Brookfield Asset Management has won the auction for Atlantic City's bankrupt Revel Casino Hotel, Reuters reported today. The company bid $110 million for the casino complex, topping a $90-million bid by Florida real estate developer Glenn Straub, who did not submit a superior bid by 5:00 a.m. ET. Revel Casino, which cost $2.4 billion to build, opened in 2012 and closed on Sept. 2. Revel Casino had agreed to use Straub's initial bid to set the benchmark for other potential buyers. Straub had said that he wanted to create a university at the site to attract the world's brightest minds to tackle social problems such as hunger. The case is In re: Revel AC Inc., U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey, No. 14-22654.

Trump Entertainment Seeks Union Concessions

Submitted by webadmin on

Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., the Atlantic City, N.J., casino operator, said that it will soon file a reorganization plan for secured lenders to convert some of their $286 million in old debt into equity and new debt not requiring cash interest payments, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. If approved, the lenders will provide $100 million in new capital, the casino operator said. First-lien lenders, including Icahn Partners LP and affiliated funds, were owed approximately $285.6 million plus $6.6 million in interest when the chapter 11 reorganization began this month. The proposal depends on concessions from the union, New Jersey and Atlantic City. The company filed papers on Sept 26 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware seeking permission to modify the existing union contract. Meanwhile, Donald Trump last week asked the judge to take his name off the company’s properties: the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino and the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort. The 906-room Trump Plaza closed this month. The Taj Mahal, with more than 2,000 rooms, previously told workers it will close around Nov. 13 absent labor concessions.