On June 13, 2021, Washington Prime Group Inc. and several affiliates, which administer a REIT and are headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, filed petitions under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (Lead Case No. 21-31948).

Late on April 19, 2021, Wilmington, Del.-based non-profit Connections Community Support Programs, Inc. (“CCSP”), which provides psychiatric/behavioral health services, substance use disorder treatment, housing and veterans’ services, intellectual disabilities services and operation support services, filed a petition under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 21-10723).

Starion Energy, Inc., along with two subsidiaries and affiliates, has filed a petition for relief under chapter 11 in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Lead Case No. 18-12608). Starion, headquartered in Middlebury, Connecticut, is a competitive retailer of electricity operating in eleven states.

Creditors often think that an involuntary bankruptcy petition is a great bargaining chip when faced with a recalcitrant debtor. However, the actual filing of an involuntary bankruptcy petition (when that petition is filed in “bad faith”) confers a considerable risk to the petitioning creditors. Recently, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued an opinion that re-emphasizes just how risky bad faith involuntary petitions can be for creditors.

Nighthawk Production LLC and Oilquest USA LLC—affiliates of Nighthawk Royalties LLC, et al. (Lead Case No. 18-10989)—have filed petitions for relief under Chapter 11 in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Cole Schotz’s coverage of Nighthawk’s filing can be found here.

Frog Rock Investments, LLC, along with three subsidiaries and affiliates, has filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. All of the Debtors are affiliates of, and are seeking joint administration with, the Woodbridge Group of Companies, et al. (Lead Case No. 17-12560).

TerraVia Holdings, Inc., a San Francisco-based specialty food company, and two of its affiliates have filed petitions for relief under Chapter 11 in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 17-11655).

Traditional DIP Order Carve Outs Do Not Cap the Administrative Claims of Committee Professionals

Many creditors who have supplied goods to a debtor before a bankruptcy case begins think their only prospects for recovery will be pennies on the dollar. While often times, pre-petition claims are relegated to receive small, if any, distributions, there is a unique carve-out in Section 503(b)(9) of the Bankruptcy Code that elevates “goods” supplied in the 20 days before a bankruptcy filing to administrative expense status.

On May 10, 2022, Talen Energy Supply, LLC, a Texas-based independent power producer founded in 2015, filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (Case No. 22-90054).