Late on April 5, 2021, TECT Aerospace Group Holdings, Inc., along with certain affiliates that manufacture high precision components and assemblies for the aerospace industry, filed a petition under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 21-10670).
On April 5, 2021, The Collected Group, LLC, along with certain affiliates that design, distribute, and retail three contemporary, consumer-inspired, apparel lifestyle brands: Joie, Equipment, and Current/Elliott, filed a petition under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 21-10663).
On March 30, 2021, Houston-based retail power provider Entrust Energy, Inc., filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (Case No. 21-31070). The company reports $100 to $500 million in assets and $50 to $100 million in liabilities.
On March 29, 2021, AeroCentury Corp., a Calif.-based publicly traded aircraft operating lessor and finance company specializing in leasing regional aircraft and engines to regional airlines and commercial users in 15 countries, announced it and certain of its subsidiaries filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 21-10636).
On January 12, 2021, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the first civil settlement resolving allegations of fraud involving loans issued pursuant to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). SlideBelts Inc., an internet retail company, and Brigham Taylor, the company’s president and CEO, agreed to pay $100,000 in penalties and damages to resolve alleged violations of the False Claims Act (FCA) and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA).
On October 27, 2020, the National Labor Council (NLC) adopted a new set of recommendations (Advice no. 2.184 – you can find the full text here). These recommendations result from and are in line with the agreement reached by the social partners on December 17, 2019 (see our Alert of January 14, 2020).
Retail tenants are experiencing unprecedented difficulties stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, including government shutdown orders for non-essential businesses and shelter-in-place rules that have virtually stopped all in-person shopping. Even as these restrictions are finally being relaxed to a limited degree, the dramatic effects of the pandemic will long be felt in the retail industry.
In these unprecedented times, all businesses will be facing issues they have never encountered before. The disruption caused by the measures imposed to combat the COVID-19 outbreak are significant and wide-reaching, impacting every business and its suppliers, customers, workforce, investors and lenders.
As a result of the current situation, we are advising clients who find themselves operating in the shadow of potential bankruptcies along the supply chain, in their customer base and their trading partners globally. Based on deep workout experience after past world crises, we can help clients to find and employ business strategies to minimize business disruption, salvage relationships and restructure financial facilities and business structures to facilitate ongoing trading .
Issues arising:
Three recent court decisions address the scope and limits of bankruptcy injunctions barring future asbestos claims. The decisions – from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, a Maryland bankruptcy court, and the Montana Supreme Court – underscore that (i) broad notice of proposed injunctions is critical and (ii) channeling injunctions under § 524(g) of the Bankruptcy Code apply only to liabilities that are derivative of the debtor’s liabilities, not to a company’s own liabilities.