Bankruptcy Judge Carol A. Doyle authorized bankruptcy trustee Ira Bodenstein, who is overseeing Peregrine's liquidation, to send the payments out to U.S. and foreign futures customers, the Wall Street Journal reported today. With no objections to the proposed distribution, Judge Doyle told Bodenstein and his lawyers that she would grant the request without them "saying a word" about their motion. U.S. customers will receive $27.5 million of the distribution, the second such payout since Peregrine's collapse into bankruptcy last year following the exposure of its founder's fraud. Foreign customers will get the remaining $13.5 million.
Constar International Holdings LLC, a maker of plastic soda bottles, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the third time since 2008, citing a slowdown in business, and plans to sell its assets, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The Trevose, Pa.-based company listed assets of as much as $100 million and debt as high as $500 million in court papers filed yesterday. Constar is seeking a speedy sale, with Amcor Rigid Plastics USA Inc. the lead bidder, at an undisclosed opening auction price, according to the filings.
Edison Mission Energy, the independent power producer, won bankruptcy court approval of a description of the terms of a reorganization plan that includes an asset sale to NRG Energy Inc., Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Bankruptcy Judge Jacqueline Cox approved the disclosure statement today, Seth Gastwirth, the lawyer for Edison Mission, said. Creditors will now be asked to vote on the plan, which is supported by “all of the debtor’s major stakeholders,” including the official creditors’ committee and holders of 45 percent of the senior unsecured notes, Edison Mission has said in court papers.
Casey Anthony will not have to pay most of the thousands of dollars of debts listed in her bankruptcy case, a judge ruled on Tuesday, the Orlando Sentinel reported yesterday. The ruling from Bankruptcy Judge K. Rodney May does not close Anthony's case and does not determine how much money, if any, will be paid to her creditors. Anthony filed for bankruptcy in January, listing more than $792,000 in debts. She owed the most money to Jose Baez, the defense attorney who represented her during her high-profile murder trial. Tuesday's bankruptcy discharge order eliminates Anthony's legal obligation to pay most, but not all, debts listed in her case.
New York City Opera will not be allowed to immediately return ticket fees to customers who paid for canceled performances or provide severance to full-time employees who lost their jobs, according to a bankruptcy court ruling on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane called the opera's efforts "laudable" but not permitted by the Bankruptcy Code. Still, the customers and employees could eventually be paid some or all of what they are owed. Nicole Stefanelli of Lowenstein Sandler LLP, which is representing the opera, said that the payments were necessary to maintain the goodwill of former employees and patrons as the opera continued talks with three parties that might "continue the mission of the debtor."
Longview Power LLC won court permission yesterday to start polling creditors on a chapter 11 restructuring that swaps more than $1 billion in debt for equity and provides money to fix its troubled plant, Dow Jones Newswires reported yesterday. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Shannon signed off on voting materials describing the bankruptcy-exit plan at a hearing yesterday. Once creditors cast their ballots, Longview will return to court to seek confirmation of the chapter 11 exit plan. Under the plan, existing lenders have agreed to provide $150 million to fund emergence and repair the plant, which is in West Virginia.
Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn approved revised sale procedures for Loehmann's Holdings Inc., which pushes the auction into the new year, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. The auction is scheduled to take place Jan. 3 and Judge Glenn will review the results of the auction on Jan. 7. Bids are due by Dec. 31.
A bankruptcy judge has approved additional bankruptcy financing for Fisker Automotive as the failed electric vehicle maker continues to make its way through a chapter 11 sale process, The News Journal of Wilmington reported today. The judge signed a second interim order on Tuesday authorizing an additional $2.7 million in bankruptcy loans from Hybrid Technologies LLC, Fisker's primary secured lender. That's on top of about $1.7 million in debtor financing from Hybrid that the court previously approved. The money will be used for working capital and bankruptcy expenses as attorneys for Fisker seek court approval of a sale of the company's remaining assets to Hybrid.
Bankruptcy Judges James Peck and Allan L. Gropper will step down in 2014, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Judge Peck took the bench in 2006 and two years later was handed the case of a lifetime when Lehman Brothers collapsed into the largest ever bankruptcy in September 2008. Just over three years later he approved a plan that would pay back creditors at least $65 billion — a number that has since increased to around $80 billion — an outcome few thought possible when the investment bank went under. Judge Peck has also helped broker settlements in several complicated cases, including Residential Capital creditors’ $2.1 billion settlement with Ally Financial Inc. Before being appointed, Judge Peck was a partner at Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP representing debtors and creditors. He will step down from the bench effective Jan. 31, 2014.
Judge Gropper has served since 2000, and presided over several key cases, including that of Kodak Corp. He also recently issued one of the most important decisions of his judicial career, saying Anadarko Petroleum is liable for billions of dollars in cleanup costs for Tronox Ltd., whose bankruptcy he presided over. Judge Gropper will step down from the bench effective Oct. 3, 2014. Click here to read the press release from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
A bankruptcy judge indicated yesterday that he would approve Physiotherapy Associates Inc.'s plan to emerge from its chapter 11 restructuring a little more than a month after filing for bankruptcy protection, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross said that he was "in a position" to confirm the company's chapter 11 plan of reorganization, which slashes the company's debt by more than $230 million.
