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Medical transcription company M*Modal filed for bankruptcy protection today as the firm owned by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co's private-equity arm seeks to reduce debt, Reuters reported today. M*Modal, which was taken private by One Equity Partners in a $1.1 billion all-cash deal in 2012, listed assets and liabilities in the $500 million to $1 billion range in its bankruptcy petition. M*Modal said it is in "constructive discussions" with its lenders and bondholders regarding the terms of a consensual financial restructuring plan. The company said it expects cash on hand, combined with funds generated from ongoing operations, to provide sufficient liquidity to continue operating through the restructuring process.

The maker of Prime Time Flavored Cigars was unable to refinance its debt and has filed for chapter 11 protection as it battles with the U.S. Department of Agriculture over how its products are taxed, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Prime Time International Co. filed for chapter 11 on Saturday, saying that “the imposition of tobacco-related assessments, which are disputed and subject to litigation, has hampered the company's ability to refinance its secured debt and expand its operations." In 2004, Congress passed a farm quota law that taxed tobacco, according to Prime Time's court documents. The law, the company said, didn't differentiate properly between the assessment for large cigars and little cigars, like the ones Prime Time sells.

Pizza chain Sbarro LLC has filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time in three years after struggling with too much debt and fewer customers in malls that house many of its restaurants, Reuters reported yesterday. Lenders would take control of the Melville, N.Y.-based company under a pre-packaged chapter 11 reorganization, which Sbarro on Monday said could allow it to made a "quick exit" from bankruptcy before May 7. Sbarro expects to cut its debt load by more than 80 percent, and said nearly all its lenders support its restructuring, which requires court approval.

California nursing home operator Country Villa Health Services, the target of a number of pending class-action lawsuits, has filed for chapter 11 protection, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The company, which operates 19 nursing homes and assisted living centers in Southern California, sought chapter 11 protection on Tuesday along with more than a dozen of its health care affiliates in bankruptcy court. Chief Executive Stephen Reissman said Wednesday that while the business has been facing cash flow pressures in recent months, its legal issues were the primary cause of the chapter 11 filing. "The dagger in the heart is that we have been overwhelmed by a wave of class-action lawsuits," said Reissman.

USEC Inc. filed for bankruptcy after struggling with weak prices for the enriched uranium it supplies to nuclear power plants and difficulties in financing a major project, Reuters reported today. Prices for low-enriched uranium have plummeted more than 30 percent since March 2011, when a tsunami wrecked four nuclear reactors in Japan. Demand for nuclear fuel remains weak, with more than 50 reactors going off line in Japan and Germany since the tsunami. USEC has also been hit by delays in securing funding for its American Centrifuge Project in Ohio. The company was banking on production from the project after it ceased enriching uranium at two gaseous diffusion plants leased from the Department of Energy. USEC has spent about $2.5 billion to develop the plant and needs more than $4 billion to complete it, the company said in its bankruptcy filing. The company sought a $2 billion loan guarantee from the DOE, but the government proposed a cost-sharing program to demonstrate the capability of the centrifuge technology. The $350 million research and development program, 80 percent funded by DOE, has been extended through April 15.

Electricity generator Mach Gen LLC filed for chapter 11 protection yesterday as shrinking power demand and lower energy and capacity margins hurt the company, Reuters reported yesterday. The Athens, N.Y.-based company, owned by affiliates of Credit Suisse Group AG and Bank of America Corp. among others, said that regulatory hurdles that halted the sale of its Harquahala Facility in 2013 meant it could not cut debt. As of Dec. 31, 2013, Mach Gen's unaudited balance sheet reflected assets of about $750 million and liabilities of about $1.6 billion, it said. The company said that a majority of its stakeholders had agreed to a prepackaged plan of reorganization, which would give its second-lien debt holders 93.5 percent of the restructured company and reduce about $1 billion of debt.

Company officials put Noble Logistics into chapter 11 protection on Friday, stating that the Houston-based company is running low on money and already owes about $18.8 million to lenders, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Noble Logistics said that it has struggled with "significant" litigation costs but asked for permission to spend part of a $2.6 million bankruptcy loan to pay the contractors and keep the business alive.

Sorenson Communications Inc. filed for chapter 11 protection yesterday, a court filing showed, as declining revenue and mounting debt forced the company to consider restructuring, Reuters reported today. Sorenson, which provides video relay services for people with hearing loss, said in less than a year it would be obligated to pay about $1.28 billion. Due to regulatory changes, the debtors cannot pay or refinance the obligations based on its projected revenue and cash flow, the court filing showed. The Federal Communications Commission's 2010 reduction in rates and increased minimum performance requirements for video conferencing services, made it infeasible to provide the service over the long term, the company said.

Restora Healthcare, an operator of two long-term acute care hospitals and skilled nursing facilities in Phoenix, announced it has filed for chapter 11 protection to recapitalize and reorganize its business, the ABL Advisor reported yesterday. Restora’s secured lender, Healthcare Finance Group will continue its support of Restora with court-approved funding for Restora’s payroll, suppliers, staff physicians and others during the bankruptcy. Restora’s current revenue-cycle management firm, Acuity Healthcare, has agreed to invest new capital in the business and has been contracted to provide management services upon emergence from the reorganization process.

Suntech Power Holdings Co. filed for chapter 15 protection on Friday in an attempt to stop some bondholders from interfering with professionals who are trying to turn Suntech from the world's former largest solar-panel maker into a seller of solar products, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. The filing blocks some unpaid bondholders — part of a group owed about $540 million — from forcing the company into liquidation in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court.