Houston, TX-based oil services provider SAExploration Holdings Inc. has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, reports the Wall Street Journal. SAExploration reportedly owes $6.8 million on a unsecured loan it received through the Paycheck Protection Program of the CARES Act. [WSJ; Aug. 28, 2020]
The Wall Street Journal reports that the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have thus far had a more modest adverse impact on the $700 billion collateralized loan obligation market, which some experts believed would be subject to a wave of downgrades by the three major credit rating agencies. Experts are now hopeful that collateralized loan obligations will avoid the steep downgrades and forced selling that was seen during the 2008 subprime mortgage-backed securities crisis. [Aug. 28, 2020]
Bloomberg reports that bankrupt retailer Neiman Marcus Group Inc. has filed an adversary proceeding against one of its unsecured creditors, Marble Ridge Capital LP, alleging that Marble Ridge attempted to manipulate bidding at an auction for Neiman’s e-commerce assets. Neiman is seeking approximately $55 million in damages as well as a preliminary injunction to prevent Marble Ridge from winding down its operations and distributing its assets. [Bloomberg; Aug. 27, 2020]
In an appeal arising out of the Tribune Company bankruptcy case, the United States Court of Appeal for the Third Circuit affirmed the decisions of two lower courts to confirm the debtors’ plan of reorganization notwithstanding objections from senior note holders that the debtors’ plan discriminated against them by failing to account for subordination agreements that entitled the senior note holders to greater recovery than they received under the plan. The Third Circuit ultimately determined that the debtors’ plan did not unfairly discriminate because the difference in treatment for the senior note holders amounted to less than 1% of their total recovery under the debtors’ plan. [3rd Cir.; Aug. 26, 2020]
Reuters reports that J. Crew Group Inc. expects to emerge from chapter 11 bankruptcy in early September after its plan of reorganization was confirmed by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on August 25, 2020. [Reuters; Aug. 25, 2020]