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Phoenix Payment Systems Set to Seek Approval for 50 Million Sale

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Payment processor Phoenix Payment Systems Inc. canceled its auction and declared an affiliate of North American Bancard LLC as the winner of its assets, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. In a Wednesday court filing, Phoenix Payment Systems said that it didn't receive any qualified competing offers to the $50 million stalking horse, or lead, bid by the North American Bancard affiliate. The entity making the bid is EPX Acquisition Co., named that way because Phoenix Payment Systems does business as EPX. EPX said that it will ask Judge Mary F. Walrath to approve the sale at a hearing tomorrow.

Entegra Power Wins Confirmation of Bankruptcy Emergence Plan

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Power-plant owner Entegra Power Group LLC won swift confirmation Friday of a Chapter 11 plan that chops $750 million worth of debt from its $1.5 billion balance sheet, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Entegra already had the votes in hand to get its plan before a judge when it filed for bankruptcy protection on Aug. 4, clearing the way for an uncontested confirmation session before Bankruptcy Judge Peter Walsh on Friday. Judge Walsh said that he would sign the confirmation order three minutes into the four-minute court hearing in Entegra's pre-packaged restructuring case. Hurt by diving electricity demand coupled with rising competition and facing a 2015 maturity date affecting its $1.3 billion third-lien debt, Entegra opened talks with creditors in 2013. The chapter 11 plan that resulted gives investors in approximately $231 million worth of second-lien notes a combination of new notes and cash while providing Entegra more time to address the debt.

LodgeNet Lenders Sue Over New Restructuring Deal

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A group of lenders to LodgeNet---a hotel Internet and technology provider that filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy last year and sped through the process in two months---are suing the reorganized company and other lenders, saying that a subsequent restructuring is "intended to eviscerate" their rights under the company's original bankruptcy-exit plan, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Although the lawsuit was filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan as part of LodgeNet's original chapter 11 case, the bulk of the complaint involves an agreement that was negotiated months after LodgeNet exited bankruptcy in March 2013. Sonifi Solutions Inc., which is the name LodgeNet now uses, again encountered financial troubles after exiting bankruptcy and at the end of 2013 needed once more to restructure its debt, according to the complaint filed on Wednesday.

Greenberg Alvarez Agree to Slash TelexFree Fees

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TelexFree LLC’s bankruptcy advisers will forgo more than $1 million in fees they charged during the short time they worked for the company, which has since been accused of operating a massive pyramid scheme, the Wall Street Journal reported today. To head off objections from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, one of the many that have sued over the alleged fraud, attorneys at Greenberg Traurig and turnaround advisers at Alvarez & Marsal will dramatically slash the amount they charged TelexFree in the early days of its chapter 11 case. Court papers show that Greenberg will cut its request for $969,000 in fees to just $320,000, while its requested expenses of about $76,000 will remain the same. A&M’s roughly $876,000 in fees and expenses, meanwhile, will be cut to $435,000. In return for these agreed-to reductions — which together total $1.09 million — TelexFree’s court-appointed trustee and the SEC won’t object as the firms seek bankruptcy court approval for the fees. The SEC will also ask a district judge to lift the order freezing TelexFree’s assets so the firms can collect their fees.

Examiner Appointed in HDG Mansur Bankruptcy Case

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An examiner will be appointed to conduct an investigation into the bankruptcies of two affiliates of troubled Indianapolis-based developer HDG Mansur, the Indianapolis Business Journal reported today. HDGM Advisory Services LLC and HDG Mansur Investment Services Inc., which manage Shariah-compliant investment funds, filed petitions for chapter 11 protection in Indianapolis on May 21 to fend off a $5.8 million judgment from a lawsuit filed in New York federal district court in January 2013 by funds previously managed by the bankrupt companies. At a Sept. 16 hearing, a bankruptcy judge in Indianapolis denied a request to appoint a chapter 11 trustee or convert the case to a liquidation in chapter 7, according to court records. The request was made by KFH Capital Investment Co. and Kuwait Finance House Real Estate Co. The judge granted the KFH entities’ request for an examiner. He also scheduled a Sept. 22 hearing to consider renewed requests by another creditor to appoint a trustee or convert the case to chapter 7 liquidation, according to court records.

Imagenetix Inc. Emerges from Bankruptcy

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Imagenetix Inc., a San Diego-based company developing over-the-counter topical creams, skincare products and nutritional supplements, announced that its reorganization plan was confirmed and that all provisions of the plan were approved by Bankruptcy Judge Margaret Mann with an effective date of Sept. 16, the San Diego Business Journal reported today. Shareholders as of the initial filing were not impacted and continue to retain their holdings. Payments to unsecured creditors are being accelerated and will be paid per the plan shortly after the effective date. All previous litigation naming Imagenetix as a defendant has been favorably resolved.

Bankruptcy Judge Approves Eagle Bulk Restructuring Plan

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Less than two months after entering Chapter 11 protection, Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. won court approval yesterday of a reorganization plan that cuts $975 million in debt from its balance sheet, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The approval from Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane largely concludes what an attorney for Eagle Bulk said was a year-long process to restructure the dry bulk shipper's finances. Under its uncontested, pre-packaged bankruptcy plan, Eagle Bulk's lenders, who are owed $1.2 billion, will convert their debt into 99.5 percent of the new equity in the reorganized company and receive a cash distribution. Current equity will be canceled, with those equity holders receiving the remaining 0.5 percent in new stock, along with seven-year warrants to acquire another 7.5 percent of new equity.

Judge Rejects Water Company Effort to Block Freedom Industries Settlement

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A federal bankruptcy judge has rejected West Virginia American Water Company’s effort to block a class-action settlement between Freedom Industries and thousands of victims of January’s Elk River chemical spill, the Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Ronald Pearson approved a proposal from Freedom Industries and lawyers for Kanawha Valley residents for the filing of a new class-action lawsuit that would provide a nearly $3 million settlement that would be used for health studies, water testing or other projects to benefit residents affected by the spill. The ruling by Pearson is the latest twist in the multiple court cases and investigations related to the January spill of a mixture of Crude MCHM and other chemicals from a Freedom Industries chemical tank located just 1.5 miles upstream from West Virginia American’s regional water plant. The plant serves about 300,000 people in Charleston and the surrounding communities. In July, lawyers for area residents and businesses filed court documents indicating that they had reached a proposed settlement with Freedom Industries for the company to turn over about $2.9 million that Freedom is likely to get from its insurance company.

Siga Tells Judge Lawsuit Loss Prompted Chapter 11

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Smallpox drug maker Siga Technologies Inc. on Wednesday told a judge that without bankruptcy protection, it "would no longer be able to continue its operations,” the Wall Street Journal reported today. Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP's Harvey Miller, a Siga lawyer, called Siga a healthy company that filed for chapter 11 because it can't afford to post the necessary bond that would allow it to appeal a recent court decision over its smallpox drug, Tecoviramat. "Siga believes that it has meritorious and substantial grounds for appeal," Mr. Miller said. Siga filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday, saying the automatic stay provided by the bankruptcy code is the only thing that can prevent it from having to post as much as $200 million related to the loss so it can appeal. Last month, a Delaware corporate-law court found Siga liable to PharmAthene Inc. in a licensing dispute, a decision that could mean a damages award of $232 million or more. The court ruled PharmAthene was entitled to lost profits related to Tescoviramat.

Carl Icahn Rakes in His Winnings in Trump Casino Bankruptcy

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As a secured lender who’s owed $285 million plus interest, Carl Icahn’s in a prime position in the Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. Chapter 11 case. The case began on Tuesday and is speeding toward a possible shutdown of the two casinos on the Atlantic City Boardwalk still bearing the name of rival billionaire Donald J. Trump, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Trump Plaza closed on Tuesday, but there’s a chance Trump Taj Mahal, the larger and more successful of the two, can be saved. Court papers pin that hope on concessions from Unite Here Local 54, the union that represents thousands of Atlantic City casino workers.