“Good-faith purchasers enjoy strong protection under [Bankruptcy Code (“Code”)] § 363(m),” but the silent asset buyer (“B”) with “actual and constructive knowledge of a competing interest” lacks “good faith,” held the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on April 4, 2022. Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (“ADM”) v. Country Visions Cooperative, 2022 WL 998984 (7th Cir. Apr. 4, 2022).

On April 11, 2022, Sungard AS New Holdings, LLC and several affiliates have filed a petition for Chapter 11 relief in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (Case No. 22-90018). The company reports $500 million to $1 billion in both assets and liabilities.

On March 31, 2022, Ruby Pipeline, L.L.C., a Houston-based operator of a 680-mile natural gas system from Opal, Wyoming, to interconnections near Malin, Oregon, filed a petition for Chapter 11 relief in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 22-10278). The company reports $500 million to $1 billion in both assets and liabilities.

On March 30, 2022, MD Helicopters, Inc. of Mesa, AZ filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 22-10263). The company is a helicopter supplier for military, law enforcement, utility, emergency medical services and VIP customers, with more than 2,500 aircraft in service globally.

On March 23, 2022, Massachusetts-based Footprint Power Salem Harbor Development LP and certain affiliates, which operate a 674 MW natural gas-fired combined-cycle electric power plant in Salem, Massachusetts, filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 22-10239).

On March 17, 2022, New York-based Buyk Corp., a mobile app grocery delivery service operating in New York and Chicago, filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (Case No. 22-10328).

A bankruptcy court gave “unnecessary and unlikely incorrect” reasoning to support its “excessively broad proposition that sales free and clear under [Bankruptcy Code (“Code”)] Section 363 override, and essentially render nugatory, the critical lessee protections against a debtor-lessor under [Code] 365(h),” said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Feb. 16, 2022. In re Royal Bistro, LLC, 2022 WL 499938, *1-*2 (5th Cir. Feb. 16, 2022).

For the second time in four weeks, a U.S. district court questioned the authority of bankruptcy courts to issue nonconsensual third-party releases as part of a plan of reorganization.

On February 3, 2022, Tracer Roofing of Humble, TX filed a petitionfor relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (Case No. 22-30314). The petition indicates that the debtor intends to proceed under Subchapter V of Chapter 11. Tracer Roofing reports $500,000 to $1 million in assets and $10 million to $50 million in liabilities.

For the second time in four weeks, a U.S. District Court has questioned the authority of bankruptcy courts to issue non-consensual third-party releases as part of a plan of reorganization. On Jan. 13, 2022, the Eastern District of Virginia vacated the confirmation order in the Mahwah Bergen Retail Group, Inc. (f/k/a Ascena Retail Group, Inc.) chapter 11 cases on the grounds that the plan contained impermissible non-consensual third-party releases. Patterson, et al. v. Mahwah Bergen Retail Group, Inc., Civ. No. 3:21cv167 (DJN) (E.D. Va. Jan. 13, 2022).