Golf USA seeks bankruptcy protection

Oklahoma City-based sports equipment franchiser Golf USA Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on the eve of a court hearing to place the company into receivership. Founded in Oklahoma City in 1986, Golf USA has franchisees across North America, Europe, South America, Africa and Asia, with more than 100 retail stores in 18 countries, according to its website. As recently as 2007, the company had touted itself as the world's largest golf equipment franchiser. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, one day ahead of a court hearing to place the company into receivership. Golf USA has less than $50,000 in assets and between $500,000 and $1 million in debts, according to the bankruptcy filing. Read the rest at http://newsok.com/golf-usa-seeks-bankruptcy-protection/article/3815275

Investor Aiming for the Top, Again

On Wall Street, the wheel of fortune can spin around and around, from enormous cash bonuses and luxurious perks one year to the unemployment line the next. Then there is Fred Eckert, a onetime Goldman Sachs partner who soared as a star in "vulture" investing in ailing companies. But in the turmoil of the financial crisis, his business and wealth came crashing down. By 2011, he was bankrupt, divorced and, for two months, in a coma. Today, he is in better shape, earning $1 million a year from a consulting job, although that expires next year. But most of his income is dedicated to paying leftover debts — he says he is running at "break-even at best" after expenses. It is a far cry from the luxury he enjoyed just a few years ago: an 11-bedroom mansion over 28 acres in the horse country of Bernardsville, N.J., 18 vintage automobiles and a 1,500-bottle wine collection. Now Mr. Eckert, 65, is planning to return to the arena. He says he has shed 25 pounds from his peak of 220 and has given up drinking. His cashmere overcoat may be rumpled, but his confidence is high. Mr. Eckert is trying to start a new money management business by raising up to $100 million. The new company's name — Phoenix Star Capital. While even longtime friends say a comeback will be difficult, Mr. Eckert perseveres. He went to the SALT (for SkyBridge Alternatives) hedge fund conference in Las Vegas last week to try to drum up interest in his new venture. Read the rest at http://www.cnbc.com/id/100745326

Game Over for TimeGate

A Texas bankruptcy has pulled the plug on TimeGate Studios Inc.’s short-lived restructuring bid, and the videogame developer has shut its doors and will liquidate its remaining assets. Judge Jeff Bohm of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston converted the bankruptcy to a Chapter 7 case from a Chapter 11 after a videogame publisher complained the bankruptcy was a “ruse” designed to let TimeGate insiders off the hook for a $10 million fraud judgment. Gaming website Kotaku reported that TimeGate, the developer behind “Section 8” and “Aliens: Colonial Marines,” has shut its doors and laid off its staff. A receptionist at TimeGate, reached by phone, said she couldn’t comment on the case. The videogame developer, which listed assets of less than $10 million and debt of less than $50 million in its May 1 bankruptcy filing, employed 33 people at its Sugar Land, Texas, headquarters as of last month. The company had sought to stay alive long enough to find a buyer in order to successfully launch its latest shooter game, “Minimum.” That game, TimeGate said, was projected to generate sales of $30 million to $75 million in the next 3 1/2 years. Read the rest at http://blogs.wsj.com/bankruptcy/2013/05/16/game-over-for-timegate/

Hearts Majority Owner UBIG Is Insolvent, Bankruptcy Body Says

Ukio Banko Investicine Grupe, or UBIG, the Lithuanian investment company that controls Scottish soccer club Heart of Midlothian, is insolvent, said the Baltic nation’s Department of Enterprise Bankruptcy Management today on its website. The department, part of the Economy Ministry, said that Kaunas-based UBIG, at its own request, had been placed on a list of companies unable or unwilling to meet their obligations. UBIG is a sister company of Ukio Bankas AB, a lender that Lithuania’s central bank closed in February for risky lending to related parties. Russian-born investor Vladimir Romanov controlled both companies. Read the rest at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-16/hearts-majority-owner-ubig-is-insolvent-bankruptcy-body-says.html

Aurelius Scores Windfall Under Tousa Bankruptcy Plan

Florida homebuilder Tousa Inc ., which collapsed five years ago when the housing bubble popped, is seeking approval of a Chapter 11 plan that proposes to pay bondholders hundreds of millions of dollars, a big win for the investors that bought up the company's debt at a deep discount then battled lenders for a payout. Read the rest at http://pevc.dowjones.com/Article?an=DJFLBO0020130517e95how2hp&cid=32135028&ctype=ts&ReturnUrl=http%3a%2f%2fpevc.dowjones.com%3a80%2fArticle%3fan%3dDJFLBO0020130517e95how2hp%26cid%3d32135028%26ctype%3dts

Arcapita Bankruptcy Filing Highlights Wider Transparency Issue

Corporate collapses and debt restructurings have been common in the Persian Gulf since the financial crisis. But the U.S. bankruptcy filing by the Bahrain-based investment firm Arcapita has presented an unusual sight for the region – a debt-laden company which is planning to sell all its assets to repay creditors and wind up its operations. While nothing new in the developed world, bankruptcy proceedings overseen by courts and done transparently are virtually unknown in Arcapita’s native Bahrain or in the rest of the oil-rich Gulf, where failure carries a social stigma and debt-laden, financially broken companies are often allowed to straggle along instead of publicly going out of business. Even when Gulf companies do want to wind themselves up, lawyers say local systems are rarely used because they’re unpredictable. “There have been hardly ever any companies that have gone bust, and that’s simply because one thing you want when you put a company into bankruptcy is certainty about the outcome,” said Adrian Low, a banking and finance lawyer at Clyde & Co. in Dubai, speaking about the situation in the Middle East in general. Arcapita’s winding-up is taking place in plain view because it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New York, which it was able to do because it made substantial investments in the U.S. The case, filed last March, is expected to conclude this summer. The absence of a properly-functioning bankruptcy regime back in the Gulf has hindered the region’s economic recovery, lawyers and consultants say. As well as keeping unhealthy companies alive for too long, slowing the rebound from the 2008-2009 financial crisis, it has stifled access to credit and stunted the development of financial markets. “The financial markets need bankruptcy laws to be flexible to allow for the redeployment of capital,” said Nasser Saidi, an economist and former Lebanese central banker who runs a Dubai-based advisory firm, and has been a vocal advocate of bankruptcy reform in the region. “That’s a main function of capital markets, but you see they are not functioning well in the Middle East.” Read the rest at http://blogs.wsj.com/middleeast/2013/05/16/arcapita-bankruptcy-filing-highlights-wider-transparency-issue/

Hong Kong April bankruptcy petitions rise 2.6 pct from March

HONG KONG, May 16 (Reuters) - Following are monthly bankruptcy statistics provided by the government: Pct Change Pct Change No. of April M/M Y/Y Jan-Apr Y/Y Bankruptcy petitions 815 2.64 21.10 3,010 10.50 Bankruptcy orders 927 35.92 20.39 3,126 18.63 Read the rest at http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/16/hongkong-economy-bankruptcy-idUSL3N0D66XP20130516

Valitar horses focus of bankruptcy case

SAN DIEGO — Where are they now? That’s the question that a bankruptcy court in San Diego is trying to answer about dozens of horses that were once part of Valitar, the human-equine acrobatics show that flamed out last year after just a handful of performances at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. When Valitar closed in late November, dozens of performers, employees and vendors were left unpaid. Equustria Development, the company founded by Rancho Santa Fe resident Mark Remley to produce the show, declared bankruptcy Dec. 14. Many of the company’s assets — including the massive tents that housed the show — have since been sold. Meanwhile, the animals that were the centerpiece of the show have taken center stage in the bankruptcy proceedings. Marketing material touting Valitar said the production had a cast of 54 horses. Not quite half of those animals belonged to performers who appeared in the show, and the rest belonged to Equustria or to Mark Remley and his wife, Tatyana. Several of those horses, worth thousands of dollars each, are missing and still more are caught in a legal tug of war between Remley and his creditors — many of them cast and crew members. On Wednesday, attorneys for both sides met in a creditors’ meeting in San Diego to discuss the whereabouts of the horses and who actually owns them. Horses owned by the production company can be sold to reimburse creditors, but horses owned by Remley would remain his personal property. Read the rest at http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/may/16/valitar-horses-bankruptcy/

Yankee Parking Bondholders Seek to Stave Off Bankruptcy Filing

Holders of almost $240 million of municipal debt issued to finance parking garages at the new Yankee Stadium and the operator of the facility agreed to prevent an immediate bankruptcy filing. Owners of a majority of the debt said they wouldn’t sue Bronx Parking Development Corp. to enforce their claims on revenue or seek an acceleration of payments, according to a securities filing today. The garages and lots, which have about 9,300 spaces, have suffered as more fans take public transportation to Major League Baseball games and drivers balk at paying $35 to park. The facilities averaged about 4,000 cars on event days and had an occupancy rate of 43 percent, according to filings. The New York Yankees have exclusive use of 600 spaces. Bronx Parking in March disclosed that it was hiring Willkie Farr & Gallagher as bankruptcy counsel. The bondholders and Bronx Parking agreed to terminate the so-called forbearance agreement on Aug. 1, according to the filing. It could end earlier if the operator fails to reach an accord with the Yankees by July 15 to better promote the garages to fans or if Bronx Parking files for bankruptcy, according to the filing. The marketing arrangement needs to be acceptable to bondholders. Nuveen Asset Management is the biggest holder of Bronx Parking debt, with a combined $116.1 million of bonds maturing in 2037 and 2046 as of Feb. 28, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Chicago-based company held $15 million in bonds maturing in 2017 and 2027 as of Jan. 31. Read the rest at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-16/yankee-parking-bondholders-seek-to-stave-off-bankruptcy-filing.html

Moody’s Says Detroit Manager Makes Bankruptcy Option

The financial-recovery plan by Detroit’s emergency manager may harm the city’s bondholders because it indicates he is considering an effort to avoid paying in full, according to Moody’s Investors Service. The plan released by Kevyn Orr on May 13 “indicates that the city requires ‘significant and fundamental debt relief’ to help shore up its finances, a clear indication that a default or bankruptcy is a real option,” according to Moody’s. Detroit would join Stockton and San Bernardino, both in California, and Jefferson County, Alabama, in trying to stick bondholders with a loss. Stockton is one of five municipal issuers rated by Moody’s Investors Service that defaulted in 2012. Orr’s report said he will use a “fair and equitable” standard to restructure payments. “This language has been used in relation to other bankruptcy proceedings to manage creditors’ expectations on recovering their assets in bankruptcy, setting the stage for reductions to all stakeholders, including bondholders,” said the Moody’s report released today. Unpleasant Record Orr, a 55-year-old Washington restructuring lawyer appointed by Republican Governor Rick Snyder, declined to comment on the Moody’s report. His spokesman, Bill Nowling, said Orr and his advisers “continue to work diligently to resolve the city’s financial challenges and create a viable financial future for all of Detroit’s constituents.” Orr has said he hopes to avoid bankruptcy by negotiating with creditors and reining in retirement costs. Michigan Treasurer Andy Dillon has said Detroit would be the largest U.S. municipality to declare bankruptcy. Detroit’s long-term obligations are at least $15.7 billion, including unfunded pension and retirement benefits. The general fund this fiscal year, with revenue of about $1.1 billion, will pay about $461 million for debt and health costs, according to the emergency manager’s report. Tax-exempt Detroit general obligations maturing in April 2015 traded today at an average price of 88 cents on the dollar, down from 94 cents earlier this week and 13 percent below their 2008 issue price, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The yield on the securities is 12.4 percent, compared with 0.35 percent on benchmark AAA munis due in two years. Moody’s gives Detroit’s general obligation and certificate of participation debt a Caa1 rating, seven levels below investment grade. Most of the city’s debt is tied to water and sewer revenue, not the general fund, the Moody’s report said, and there is a negative outlook on those obligations. Debt paid from general-fund accounts is just under $3 billion. Read the rest at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-16/detroit-recovery-plan-negative-for-bondholders-moody-s-says-1-.html