Mexican airline Aeromexico, which is in a Chapter 11 restructuring process, said on Tuesday it posted a $1.2 billion net loss for the second quarter and laid off about 2,000 workers as the coronavirus pandemic roils the airline industry, Reuters reported. “The commercial aviation industry faces unprecedented challenges stemming from a significant reduction in passenger demand worldwide,” the firm said in a statement.

A record number of Canada’s largest businesses are seeking protection from creditors, a testament to the strains companies are under because of the coronavirus pandemic, Bloomberg News reported. In the three months through June, 27 firms were granted protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, a federal law that gives insolvent corporations that have debt of more than C$5 million ($3.7 million) an opportunity to restructure and avoid liquidation.

Latin America is at the centre of the coronavirus pandemic, suffering some of the worst infection rates and highest death tolls in the world, the Financial Times reported. Now economists warn that the region faces more bad news: its sickly economies risk falling into a new debt crisis even worse than the last big bust of the 1980s. The continent was struggling with multiple “pre-existing conditions” before the virus took hold: anaemic growth, weak health systems, low tax revenues, high levels of borrowing and an over-reliance on commodity exports.

Mendocino Clothing Co., a Toronto-based retailer, has begun restructuring proceedings and plans to close stores to focus on online orders, Bloomberg News reported. The closely-held company filed a notice of intention to make a proposal under Canadian bankruptcy law on July 14, according to documents posted on the website of KSV Kofman Inc., the trustee. The documents listed Toronto-Dominion Bank as a secured creditor owed C$2.69 million ($1.99 million) and a further C$5.78 million owed to unsecured creditors including American Express and OPGI Mgmt.

Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group said on Thursday it reached a new purchase agreement with its secured lenders, in a move that would help kick-start the bidding process for the financially strapped circus troupe, Reuters reported. The Cirque said in a statement that it entered into a new “stalking horse” purchase agreement with its first-lien and second-lien secured lenders, confirming earlier reports.

Mexico’s Interjet said on Monday it received a $150 million capital injection to help the company through a major restructuring in a bid to offset the crisis in the airline sector as the coronavirus pandemic choked global travel, Reuters reported. Interjet, one of Mexico’s three biggest airlines with a portfolio of more than 50 routes, announced restructure plans last month as local media speculated about the carrier’s financial health.

Mexico’s government on Thursday ruled out a financial rescue of the country’s airlines, which have been hammered by a sharp drop in global demand for travel and restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported. Aeroméxico announced in late June the start of a restructuring process under Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the United States, while rival Interjet has also been struggling under the burden of coronavirus-imposed restrictions.

Lenders to Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group are working on an offer to replace the bid made by TPG and other shareholders of the company, which is restructuring under bankruptcy protection, Bloomberg News reported. The lenders are set to present a binding “credit bid” to a committee of Cirque’s board by Tuesday, a court hearing was told Friday. Credit bidding involves canceling outstanding debt as part of an offer to acquire a debtor’s assets. Cirque’s creditors have said previously they would also be willing to inject as much as $375 million to help the company restart.

Mexico’s government yesterday ruled out a financial rescue of the country’s airlines, which have been hammered by a sharp drop in global demand for travel and restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported.

Cirque du Soleil and its secured creditors are close to reaching a agreement on a second stalking horse bid for the financially strapped entertainment group, after lenders opposed a deal with shareholders including TPG Capital and Fosun International, a Canadian court heard today, Reuters reported. Canada’s once high-flying Cirque has received protection from creditors as it restructures after the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to cancel shows and lay off artists. The Montreal-based entertainment company filed for bankruptcy in late June.