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The Atlantic Club Casino Hotel filed for chapter 11 protection yesterday, a move that is part of a plan to put its Atlantic City gambling business up for auction, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. California buyout firm Colony Capital LLC is the latest in a long string of owners of the casino, which is suffering along with the rest of the Atlantic City Boardwalk casinos from increased gambling competition in neighboring states. Papers filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Camden, N.J., estimate the Atlantic Club's debts at $10 million to $50 million, with an unknown amount of pension liabilities topping the list.

FriendFinder Networks Inc., the owner of Penthouse magazine and thousands of adult-oriented websites, won court approval to seek creditors’ votes on its restructuring plan, which would turn the company over to noteholders, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi yesterday approved the company’s disclosure statement. FriendFinder will seek court approval of its reorganization plan to exit bankruptcy at a hearing scheduled for Dec. 16. Objections to the plan have to be filed by Dec. 9. The Boca Raton, Fla.-based operator of websites such as adultfriendfinder.com sought bankruptcy protection Sept. 17 listing assets of $465.3 million and debt of $661.9 million. The restructuring would cut about $300 million in debt and reduce annual interest expenses by about $50 million. The reorganized company’s estimated enterprise value was between $257.8 million and $285.4 million as of Aug. 31, according to the disclosure statement.

Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn cleared MF Global Inc. to pay back 100 percent of the money owed to its U.S. and overseas commodity customers, a watershed moment in the collapsed brokerage firm's chapter 11 case, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. James W. Giddens, the trustee unwinding MF Global 's brokerage, was cleared to allocate about $305 million into an account that would pay back the customers by the end of the year.

U.S. golf retailer Edwin Watts Golf Shops LLC filed for chapter 11 protection today, Reuters reported. The retailer, owned by private equity firm Sun Capital Partners Inc., listed out estimated liabilities and assets of $100 million to $500 million. The Fort Walton Beach, Fla.-based company sells golf equipment, apparel, and accessories through its more than 88 domestic retail stores and also via its web portal. The case is Edwin Watts Golf Shops LLC, Case No. 13-12877, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware.

Atari Inc., the bankrupt video-game maker, won bankruptcy court approval to seek creditors’ votes on its plan to exit chapter 11 protection as a going concern, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Bankruptcy Judge James M. Peck approved the company’s disclosure statement, an outline of the restructuring plan, finding that it contained adequate information for creditors to make an informed vote, according to court documents filed Oct. 29 in Manhattan. Unsecured creditors are projected to receive a recovery of as much as 25 percent. The company is scheduled to seek court approval of its reorganization plan at a Dec. 5 hearing.

Chevron Corp. wants a bankruptcy judge to revisit his decision allowing Edison Mission to keep its share of a natural-gas joint venture involving the two companies now that Edison has a deal to sell its assets to NRG Energy Inc. for $2.6 billion, Dow Jones Newswires reported on Friday. In a court filing last Wednesday, lawyers for the oil company asked Bankruptcy Judge Jacqueline P. Cox to re-open the case record before granting final approval to Edison Mission's bid to legally "assume," or retain, its stake in the lucrative natural-gas deal.
The sale to NRG "fundamentally alters" some of the key premises underlying Edison Mission's bid to assume the contract and "debunks" its argument that it didn't intend to transfer their contract to a third party. Chevron, which sued Edison Mission shortly after its bankruptcy filing to remove its partner from the deal, also said that a newly discovered document establishes Edison Mission is the "parent" of two subsidiaries involved in the Chevron partnership.

A new problem has emerged for Ormet Corp. as the aluminum producer begins winding down its operations: power to its Ohio smelter could be shut off on Friday, potentially flooding the groundwater with chemicals such as arsenic and cyanide, Dow Jones Newswire reported yesterday. At a hearing on Monday, American Electric Power Co. Inc., Ormet's electricity provider, told Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath that without payment of at least $1.4 million, electricity to Ormet's Hannibal, Ohio, facility would be shut off on Friday. That facility, which has halted operations and is being liquidated, has maintained interceptor wells since 1973 to prevent harmful chemicals from leaching out of the facility and into Ohio groundwater. Those wells require electricity to continue pumping. The EPA wasn't able to provide additional information on the situation Tuesday, but it said in court documents that stopping the pumping system "could pose substantial risks to public health and safety."

One faction of the split group of wealthy businessmen that bought the Philadelphia Inquirer last year has offered $29 million to buy out two owners who have been grappling for control of the newspaper's fate in court, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. New Jersey political power broker George E. Norcross III and his allies want to buy the stakes held by parking, billboard and sports investor Lewis Katz and cable TV investor H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest. The offer is "no strings attached," according to a statement released by Norcross and William P. Hankowsky, two members of the group that bought the Inquirer and its sister publication, the Philadelphia Daily News, for $55 million last year.

Patriot Coal Corp. has revised its reorganization plan, as expected, ahead of a key bankruptcy hearing next week, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported yesterday. The new plan, filed on Saturday in bankruptcy court, incorporates agreements that the Creve Coeur, Mo.-based coal producer reached with the unsecured creditors committee as well as with the United Mine Workers of America. If the bankruptcy judge approves the company’s amended disclosure statement on schedule, a confirmation hearing for approval of the plan will take place Dec. 17, clearing the way for the company’s emergence from federal bankruptcy protection. Funding for Patriot’s plan comes in part from $250 million in two rights offerings in which Knighthead Capital Management LLC provides a backstop by agreeing to purchase securities not taken by other creditors.

Green Field Energy Services Inc., the oil-field service provider that defaulted on a loan last month, received court approval to borrow as much as $15 million, allowing the company to operate while it’s in bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross approved financing for the company, which filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 27. Green Field will return to court to seek approval of the rest of a $30 million debtor-in-possession loan from lenders including GB Credit Partners LLC and ICON Capital LLC.