Swiss baked goods maker Aryzta rejected on Friday an 800 million Swiss franc ($904 million) takeover approach from Elliott Advisors, saying it preferred to go it alone, Reuters reported. “Aryzta announces that after careful review of the Elliott proposal, including the envisaged refinancing for Aryzta, the Board has decided unanimously to reject the proposal and not enter into a transaction agreement with Elliott,” it said in a statement. Elliott declined to comment.

The official overseeing Norwegian Air’s protection from its creditors in Ireland will present a report to the Irish High Court on Jan. 22, having received a business plan from the cash-strapped airline, Reuters reported.. The airline obtained creditor protection this month from courts in Norway and Ireland, giving it some breathing space to restructure its massive debts. Its main aircraft-owning subsidiaries are Irish and its parent company, Norwegian Air ASA, is registered in Norway.

The number of companies going into insolvent liquidations will have increased in 2020 after falling every year since 2012, Independent.ie reported. However, due to ongoing support measures such as Government Covid schemes and landlord forbearance, a massive surge in liquidations forecast by insolvency experts and business groups has not yet occurred. There are signs of an uptick, with voluntary liquidation more than doubling in this month compared with November, increasing from 23 to 52.

A federal judge upheld a $1.5 billion debt restructuring by offshore-drilling contractor Transocean Ltd., ruling against a hedge-fund bondholder that claimed it was treated unfairly as the company took steps to survive a turbulent oil market, The Wall Street Journal reported. Judge George B. Daniels of the U.S. District Court in New York rejected efforts by Whitebox Advisors LLC to call a debt default against Transocean during a painful period for deep-water drilling that has sent several peer companies to bankruptcy.

Rishi Sunak has pledged further financial help for UK businesses with extensions to his flagship furlough and emergency loan schemes as pandemic restrictions are extended and companies brace for a potentially disruptive end to the Brexit transition, the Financial Times reported. The chancellor on Thursday also set March 3 as the date for the next Budget, which is likely to be one of the toughest in years given the pressure to stabilise the public finances with additional spending cuts or tax increases.

Norwegian Air’s shareholders endorsed the airline’s financial rescue plan on Thursday in a series of votes, one of several hurdles the heavily indebted company must clear to survive the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reported. Norwegian Air now faces difficult negotiations with creditors as it tries to reduce its debt and liabilities of 66.8 billion Norwegian crowns ($7.8 billion). It must also find investors and lenders willing to put up fresh cash.

The United States and United Kingdom subsidiaries of Montreal-based flexible workspace company Breather have reportedly filed for separate insolvency processes, amid financial troubles and significant downsizing happening at the startup, BetaKit reported. According to The Globe and Mail, the subsidiaries filed for insolvency this week, around the same time Breather decided to pull out of hundreds of leases. The 315 office spaces Breather leased in the US and 40 in the UK will be assigned to third parties to “wind them down” and repay creditors.

The European Union set out plans on Wednesday to help banks to jettison soured loans more easily and continue lending to households and business hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reported. A lesson from the previous financial crisis was that failing to tackle unpaid or so-called non-performing loans (NPLs) left banks unable to keep lending, which is the lifeblood of recovery in a region that relies heavily on banks for corporate funding.

Spanish blue-chips including Telefónica, Iberdrola and Seat are positioning themselves for tens of billions of euros in EU coronavirus aid they hope will transform their industries and benefit their bottom lines, the Financial Times reported. Spain expects to receive some €140bn from the €750bn EU coronavirus recovery fund, which leaders approved last week, making Madrid one of the biggest beneficiaries of the programme, along with countries such as Croatia, Bulgaria, Greece, Portugal and Romania.

The Commercial Court of Marseilles approved the recovery plan for Bourbon Maritime after an agreement was reached with the creditors, The Maritime Executive reported. The decision completed the reorganization proceedings that began nearly 18 months ago. The company expects to complete the financial and capital restructuring of the group by the end of the year as it continues to overhaul its business. Bourbon’s recovery is based on the continuation and deployment of its strategic action plan.