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Bankrupt mall operator General Growth has named Ventas Inc. CEO Debra A. Cafaro as a director. In a press release, General Growth CEO Adam Metz praised Ventas’ skills, saying that she has “critical knowledge of the issues GGP is facing as we continue to position GGP for emergence from bankruptcy.”
Read the full press release here.
By Michael Oneal | Junior
bondholders in Tribune Co.’s bankruptcy case argued Friday that the
company has wrongly set aside $117 million generated by its joint
venture with the TV/Food Network to pay for legal, consulting and
investment banking fees incurred by the lenders to its failed 2007
leveraged buyout.
Court papers outlining the dispute had earlier revealed that Tribune
Co. last year paid out around $25 million to cover the fees before U.S.
Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey halted them.
From Bloomberg News | No. 2 U.S. mall operator General Growth plans to file next week a plan to finance its the reorganization of its holding company now in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, an attorney for the company said.
Get the full story: businessweek.com
From BusinessWeek | A lawyer for bankrupt mall owner General Growth Properties said that the company will submit a proposal next week that might finance the reorganization of its holding company.
Get the full story: businessweek.com.
By Wailin Wong |
High-end boutique Jake is closing its Gold Coast store at the end of the month, bowing to economic woes that have forced other luxury retailers into similar dilemmas.
“Honestly, for the last 18 months we feel like we’ve been swimming against the current,” said Lance Lawson, who together with Jim Wetzel built Jake into one of the trendiest boutiques in the Midwest and a beacon for new designers. “Retail has changed a ton. Our business model really has been impacted by the changing consumer spending habits…We felt like it was time to move on and do something different.”
Associated Press | The Tribune Co. will be allowed to withdraw a
motion seeking court approval of two management bonus plans worth more
than $20 million and instead include them in its reorganization plan, a
judge ruled Tuesday.
The U.S. trustee and a union for employees of The Baltimore Sun have
fought against the bonus plans, which were the subject of extensive
court filings and oral arguments before Judge Kevin Carey.
From BusinessWeek | Two New York-based hedge funds, Elliott Associates LP and Paulson & Co., are considering joining with Brookfield Asset Management Inc. to bring Chicago-based mall owner General Growth Properties Inc. out of bankruptcy.
Get the full story: businessweek.com.
From BusinessWeek | General Growth Properties will submit a new proposal by next week to reorganize its holding company that would give it more than $6
billion in cash and another $250 million to back a rights offering. General Growth
also won permission to reorganize five property-owning units.
Get the full story: businessweek.com.
A customer shops for a movie at Blockbuster. (AP, file)
Associated Press | Shares of Blockbuster Inc. sank 30 percent
Wednesday after the video rental chain warned that it may have to file
for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Competition from DVD-by-mail company Netflix Inc. and DVD vending
machines operated by Coinstar Inc. have eroded the Dallas company’s
revenue even as it staggers under a heavy debt load.
Associated Press | Two people familiar with the matter say shopping mall operator Simon Property Group Inc. is considering raising its $10 billion buyout offer for rival General Growth Properties Inc. as early as this week.
The two people familiar with a letter sent by Simon this week to General Growth say Simon anticipates boosting its offer above that of a deal put forth by a group of investors that includes two of General Growth’s biggest creditors.
Associated Press | Washington Mutual Inc. says it has resolved disputes with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. over some $4 billion at issue in the bank holding company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The government agency seized Washington Mutual’s flagship bank in 2008 and sold its assets to JPMorgan for $1.9 billion. But the two banking companies and the FDIC have traded lawsuits over roughly $4 billion in disputed deposit accounts.
Lehman Brothers’ headquarters in New York on Sept. 10, 2008. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Bloomberg | JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup helped cause the failure of Lehman Brothers by demanding more collateral and changing guarantee agreements, according to a court-ordered report on the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history.
“The demands for collateral by Lehman’s lenders had direct impact on Lehman’s liquidity,” said Anton Valukas, the bankruptcy examiner, in a 2,200-page document filed yesterday. “Lehman’s available liquidity is central to the question of why Lehman failed.”
Valukas is chairman of Chicago law firm Jenner & Block LLP. In his report, he said that Ernst & Young LLP, Lehman’s auditing firm, failed to question inadequate disclosures by the Lehman executives.
Get the full story: bloomberg.com.
Chicago Daily Herald | Hartmarx Corp., once a Chicago-based men’s suit maker, decided to
allow the creditors’ committee to file a Chapter 11 plan when the company’s
exclusive right to propose a plan expires Mar. 22.
Get the full story: dailyherald.com.
From Bloomberg News | A group of Tribune Co. creditors sued the banks behind the Chicago-based
publisher’s 2007 leveraged buyout, saying the $8 billion in loans they arranged
for the deal doomed it to bankruptcy.
Get the full story: chicagotribune.com/business
Dow Jones Newswires | A spokesman for General Growth Properties
Inc. says a bankruptcy court judge in New York has granted the mall
owner’s request for additional time to sort out its exit from Chapter
11 bankruptcy protection.
David Keating said Wednesday that U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper gave the company a four-month extension. That’s two months less than what Chicago-based General Growth sought.
