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U.S. Trustee Roberta DeAngelis joined criticisms of Solyndra LLC's plan to repay its debts, saying that the bankrupt solar panel maker should disclose whether it is favoring venture capital investors over creditors, Reuters reported yesterday. DeAngelis said in a court filing that Solyndra should provide more information about the repayment plan, which preserves potential tax benefits for the two investment funds that are sponsoring the bankruptcy plan. Earlier this week, the Department of Energy and the Internal Revenue Service also demanded more details about the tax benefits. The two agencies said in a court filing that the Madrone Partners and Argonaut Ventures funds stood to gain more than $500 million in future tax breaks from the Solyndra bankruptcy.

Two investment firms could walk away from the bankruptcy of solar panel maker Solyndra LLC with hundreds of millions of dollars in future tax breaks, the U.S. government said in court papers seeking more information on the arrangement, Reuters reported yesterday. Units of Argonaut Ventures and Madrone Partners could end up with "significantly more" than $500 million in tax benefits as part of Solyndra's bankruptcy, the Department of Energy and the Internal Revenue Service said in a bankruptcy court filing on Friday. Under the bankruptcy plan, the U.S. government is unlikely to recoup much of its $528 million loan to Solyndra. The government agencies asked the bankruptcy court to reject Solyndra's "disclosure statement," which describes its plan to repay creditors, unless the company provides more details on the tax benefits. Under the proposed plan, tax benefits such as "net operating losses" would be preserved for Argonaut, which is controlled by a foundation linked to billionaire George Kaiser, and Madrone. Under a 2011 restructuring, the two firms committed to investing $75 million to keep Solyndra afloat with the condition they would be repaid before the U.S. government.

Seagate Technology Plc, maker of hard drives and storage devices, has agreed to pay $90.3 million for the former manufacturing plant and headquarters building of bankrupt Solyndra LLC, which was financed by a controversial government loan, Reuters reported yesterday. Seagate's offer will be considered the stalking horse bid, which could be topped by a competing offer of at least $1 million more when an auction is held, according to court documents filed late on Wednesday. A hearing to set the terms and date for the auction and declare Seagate's offer the stalking horse has been set for Sept. 24.

Eastman Kodak Co. said that it plans to sell most of its consumer and document imaging businesses and shift focus to commercial printing as it works to emerge from bankruptcy, Reuters reported yesterday. The once-dominant printing firm, already in the midst of auctioning off its digital patent portfolio, hopes to complete the sales by mid-2013, CEO Antonio Perez said yesterday. The company needs to raise nearly $700 million to pay back its creditors and exit bankruptcy, and initially hoped its patent sale would generate at least that much. But more than two weeks into its auction and still without a deal, the company may be looking for other ways to raise cash.

Broadview Networks Holdings Inc., a communications and information technology provider/operator, filed for a pre-packaged chapter 11 bankruptcy yesterday, Reuters reported. The company, headquartered in Rye Brook, N.Y., filed court papers listing $258.3 million in assets at the end of the first quarter and $373.4 million in liabilities. The company had been exploring merger, refinancing and restructuring options during the last 18 months in an effort to have enough capital by the time $300 million in senior secured notes matured Sept. 1, CEO Michael Robinson said in a declaration filed in court. Broadview said that the pre-packaged plan would enable the company to eliminate half its debt.

Seagate Technology Plc, maker of hard drives and storage devices, has reached an agreement to buy the former manufacturing plant and headquarters building of bankrupt Solyndra LLC, Reuters reported yesterday. The price for the building in Fremont, Calif., could not be determined. A bankruptcy court in February approved the appointment of Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle to market the building, which cost more than $300 million and was completed in 2010, according to court documents. At that time, the property was expected to fetch around $150 million. A final sale is subject to due diligence and the approval of the bankruptcy court.

The U.S. Trustee overseeing Eastman Kodak Co.'s bankruptcy was asked to probe the photography pioneer's patent auction by a New York hedge fund, which said that the "unusually secretive" bidding process was not likely to benefit creditors, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Esopus Creek Value Series Fund LP, which holds Kodak's 9.75 percent Senior Secured Notes, said press reports about two lead bidders joining forces, Apple Inc. and Google Inc., led the fund "to be concerned as to the integrity of the bidding process," according to a letter from the fund to U.S. Trustee Tracy Hope Davis. Rochester, N.Y.-based Kodak said on Aug. 16 it was continuing an extended auction of its digital-imaging patents and may not sell them if it concludes that creditors will benefit more if it holds them.

OnLive, the video game streaming startup that was full of promise when it was unveiled three years ago, has reorganized its business and cut roughly half of its staff amid financial difficulties, the Associated Press reported yesterday. However, the company says that it will continue to operate under the same name and customers should not see a change in their service. Late last week, OnLive went through assignment for the benefit of creditors to avoid bankruptcy and allow it to continue operating its service. But employee stock options and investments from outsiders became worthless. HTC Corp., the Taiwanese mobile phone maker, said that it expects to book a loss of about $40 million for its investment in OnLive.

Bankruptcy Court Judge Shelley C. Chapman yesterday extended a critical document discovery deadline to September 28 from September 11 in the LightSquared bankruptcy proceedings, Reuters reported. A group of lenders holding over $1.08 billion of secured debt at LightSquared LP, the company's main operating subsidiary, seeks to investigate the propriety of a $279 million loan extended to the holding company for LightSquared last July. At the heart of the issue is whether this loan constitutes an "insider transaction" that can be challenged, which could result in redistributing economics to other lenders. Harbinger was the key provider of this loan.

Eastman Kodak extended its patent auction yesterday saying that it would not announce a winner as planned because it was still in discussions with bidders, Reuters reported yesterday. Kodak, which has lost more than $600 million so far this year, began an auction of 1,100 digital patents last Wednesday. It had been scheduled to designate a winner on Monday ahead of a Manhattan Federal Bankruptcy court hearing on Aug. 20. The company would use the money from the sale to pay back investors as it has borrowed nearly $700 million in bankruptcy financing.