By Joseph Checkler
James River Coal Co. (JRCCQ), is scheduled to auction the
company off Tuesday at the Manhattan offices of its bankruptcy
counsel, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.
The auction was originally scheduled for July 8, but James River
has been wavering among reorganizing, liquidating, or selling its
assets.
Even with the uncertainty, James River said in a filing last
month that several "potential strategic and financial bidders" have
shown interest in the company.
James River filed for bankruptcy in April in Richmond, Va.,
after skipping an interest payment on its debt amid mounting losses
and tight liquidity. The coal industry, including James River, has
experienced sharp declines as the cost of natural gas, a competing
energy source, has fallen and as gas demand has risen in the
U.S.
The company, which ships coal to electricity generators,
industrial users and steel companies, entered bankruptcy with more
than $800 million in overall debt.
Tuesday in Manhattan, LightSquared will update its bankruptcy
judge on its newest reorganization plan.
A proposal is expected to be filed Monday that will include
participation from Dish Network Corp. (DISH) Chairman Charlie
Ergen, LightSquared said at a hearing last week. The plan would
give Mr. Ergen a $1 billion allowed claim in the bankruptcy case
and calls for him to invest $300 million in new money into the
wireless venture.
A lawyer for Harbinger Capital Partners founder Philip Falcone,
who controls LightSquared's equity but will only hold a small piece
of the company after the restructuring, called the inclusion of Mr.
Ergen a "stunning reversal to us" at a hearing last week.
Earlier this month, LightSquared unveiled a $3.05 billion
restructuring plan that would have given 74% of the wireless
venture to Cerberus Capital Management LP, Fortress Investment
Group LLC and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and would have left
Mr. Falcone with just 12.5% of the reorganized company's equity. It
is unclear how much of that proposal will change now that Mr. Ergen
is involved.
Mr. Falcone and other Harbinger officials were involved in the
discussions for the plan before Mr. Ergen's inclusion. Mr. Falcone
and other Harbinger representatives who had previously agreed to
resign from LightSquared's board when it reorganized have already
done so.
LightSquared filed for Chapter 11 in May 2012 after federal
regulators refused to clear its plans to launch its wireless
network, which they said could interfere with global-positioning
systems.
Without support from the FCC, LightSquared isn't able to fully
use spectrum, limited pockets of airwaves that mobile-phone and
Internet companies use, that it owns.
Crumbs Bake Shop Inc. (CRMB) will ask a Trenton, N.J. judge
Thursday to approve procedures for an auction of the company to
challenge the lead bid of roughly $6.5 million by Fischer
Enterprises LLC and CNBC star Marcus Lemonis.
A lawyer for Crumbs has said any competing bid would have to be
for at least $7 million.
Fischer Enterprises owns Dippin' Dots, which it bought out of
bankruptcy in 2012. Mr. Lemonis is chief executive of retailer
Camping World, and host of a CNBC reality show, "The Profit," in
which he invests his money in fledgling small businesses.
Crumbs filed for Chapter 11 last Friday after the company said
it had defaulted on a $9.3 million senior secured loan. The shop
closed all 49 of its locations, and all but nine of the company's
more than 450 employees were dismissed.
-Sara Randazzo and Tom Corrigan contributed to this article.
Follow Bankruptcy Beat, a Wall Street Journal blog, on Twitter
(http://twitter.com/#!/WSJBankruptcy).
Write to Joseph Checkler at joseph.checkler@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
