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LightSquared Inc., the wireless venture controlled by hedge-fund manager Philip Falcone, on Friday sought regulatory approval for a plan it believes will overcome the technical problems that have postponed its launch of a next-generation network and tipped the company into bankruptcy protection, the Wall Street Journal reported today. In a filing with the Federal Communications Commission, LightSquared said it would use its broadband network in a way that would address concerns that its signals interfere with global positioning systems. In a second filing, the company said that it would forgo using the airwaves that triggered those GPS interference worries in the first place. The filings come at a critical time in LightSquared's chapter 11 case, which was filed in May. The company will ask a judge today if it can extend until at least next summer the amount of time it has the exclusive right to file a reorganization plan, without the threat of rival proposals.

Visual effects creator Digital Domain Media Group Inc. on Monday won bankruptcy court approval of the $30.2 million sale of its assets to a team set up by Beijing Galloping Horse Film Co. and Reliance MediaWorks Ltd, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. The specific assets to be sold include Digital Domain's visual effects business, commercial production business and the virtual performance business that "reanimated" an image of the deceased rapper Tupac Shakur at the Coachella music festival earlier this year. The buyers will also get Digital Domain's studios in California and Vancouver as well as a co-production stake in the film "Ender's Game," a science fiction movie that is due out next year. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan L. Shannon said that he would sign off on the sale, which more than doubled the starting offer of $15 million from investment firm Searchlight Capital. But he expressed "regret" at the aggressive two-week timetable set for Digital Domain's chapter 11 case.

Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath has approved a process for failed solar power company Solyndra to sell its former California headquarters to Seagate Technology for just over $90 million, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The sale process approved by Judge Walrath yesterday makes Seagate the lead bidder for the 30-acre Solyndra complex in Fremont, Calif. She tentatively scheduled a hearing to approve the sale for Nov. 15.

Technicolor Creative Services USA Inc., a creditor that is planning on making a bid for Digital Domain Media Group Inc.'s assets, is concerned about the pace of the special-effects company's sale process and says that the accelerated timeline could result in lower offers for the business, Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Shannon last week cleared Digital Domain to head to auction this Friday, following a high-stress hearing where the company teetered on the brink of liquidation as major movie studios---Digital Domain's chief clients---threatened to walk. The judge had initially balked at setting such a swift sale process in motion and is set to take a second look at the auction rules, and the objections they have elicited, at a hearing today.

Equipment once used to build state-of-the-art thin-film solar power panels for Abound Solar Inc. has been auctioned off, the Denver Business Journal reported. The Loveland, Colo.-based company filed for chapter 7 on July 2 as company officials blamed competition from less-expensive Chinese-made solar power panels for Abound’s financial difficulties. The auction for the equipment ended yesterday.
Equipment used at Abound’s main manufacturing facility will be auctioned live, on site, during a two-day webcast auction on Oct. 2-3, according to Great American Group, Inc., who is conducting the auctions.

Eastman Kodak Co., which put patents up for sale at a bankruptcy auction, is consulting with creditors about retaining the patents and forming a licensing company, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. Kodak has been engaged in “extensive ongoing negotiations” for a potential sale and licensing transaction, the company said in a court filing on Friday. Kodak, based in Rochester, N.Y., put more than 1,000 patents on the auction block to finance a turnaround after filing for bankruptcy in January. The patents may be worth $2.2 billion to $2.6 billion based on an estimate by 284 Partners LLC, the company said in court papers. A newly formed licensing company would be a “source of recovery” for creditors, Kodak said in its court filing.

The U.S. government is gearing up for a politically charged fight over Solyndra's bankruptcy plan, as the former solar panel maker supported by President Barack Obama revealed a further $23 million in potential tax breaks for its venture capital backers, Reuters reported on Friday. A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Friday cleared the way for creditors to vote on the plan, and scheduled a hearing to consider approval on Oct. 17. An attorney for the Internal Revenue Service said his agency anticipated objecting, setting up a fight over tax breaks. They are on top of $341 million in potential tax breaks available to venture capital backers Madrone Partners and Argonaut Ventures that Solyndra disclosed earlier last week.

Shares of Digital Domain Media Group Inc. fell as much as 45 percent after the company, which makes digital special effects for TV and films, said that it may consider bankruptcy protection as it looks to pay down debt, Reuters reported on Friday. The Academy Award-winning company, which created special effects for movies such as "Titanic" and "Transformers," defaulted in paying interest on $35 million senior notes on Wednesday. Digital Domain also said Chief Executive John Textor has resigned. The company said it was weighing options on appointing a new CEO. Textor said in a regulatory filing on August 29 that he planned to take the company private, but did not give details. Textor owns a 23 percent stake in the company.

CDC Corp., a China-based enterprise software developer also known as Chinadotcom, won a judge’s approval of a bankruptcy reorganization plan where shareholders will get as much as $6.10 a share, Bloomberg News reported today. The cash for equity holders resulted from CDC’s sale of its 87 percent interest in CDC Software Corp. for $249.8 million to Archipelago Holding, an affiliate of Vista Equity Holdings. After paying a $65 million secured judgment claim and other costs, CDC was left with a net of $172.8 million when the sale was completed in April. Unsecured creditors with $2.9 million in claims were paid in full and thus did not vote on the plan. The case is In re CDC Corp., 11-79079, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta).

Telecommunications company Vivaro Corp., which says it's the largest provider of voice communications services between Mexico and the U.S., filed for chapter 11 protection on Wednesday, Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported today. Vivaro's primary business is selling prepaid calling cards to Hispanic customers in the U.S., under the Digame, Mi Carnal, El Chavo and Eroika brands. Established in 2000 and based in New York City, Vivaro claimed between $50 million and $100 million in assets and between $100 million and $500 million in liabilities in its bankruptcy petition.