PETITION

Plus '23 kicks off with a pair of filings: Quotient and Nautical Solutions

Serta Simmons Files for Bankruptcy with Fights Ahead

Morphe Cosmetics, Performance Powersports & GigaMonster Networks all file to sell!

The Two Failed Crypto Companies Kickstart a Fight Over $7.7mm

Florida Judge Pulls No Punches vs. 3M Company

Genesis, Tricida Inc. ($TCDA), American Virtual Cloud Technologies Inc. ($AVCT) & Crowne Plaza Times Square

Updates: Celsius Network, WeWork, Party City, Bed Bath & Beyond, Voyager, Ruby Pipeline & More.

On January 16, 2023, GA-based GigaMonster Networks LLC and four affiliates (the “debtors”) filed chapter 11 bankruptcy cases in the District of Delaware (Judge Stickles). The debtors develop and deploy universal access networks (“UANs”) in multi-family and commercial real estate properties. Four hundred properties and 35k end-user subscribers get their Netflix streaming addition powered by this sh*tco:

On January 16, 2023, AZ-based Performance Powersports Group Investor LLC and three affiliates (the “debtors”) — sellers of dirt bikes, go-karts, ATVs, golf cards and other adventure toys — crashed into the District of Delaware (Judge Silverstein) with voluntary chapter 11 bankruptcy filings.

On January 8, 2023, Louisiana-based Nautical Solutions LLC and Nautical Solutions (Texas) LLC (the “debtors”) filed prepackaged chapter 11 bankruptcy cases in the Southern District of Texas (Judge Lopez). The debtors provide vessel support services to, among others, offshore drillers in the United States portion of the Gulf of Mexico and in Guyana and Brazil.

It’s #BustedSPAC time! On January 11, 2023, GA-based American Virtual Cloud Technologies Inc. ($AVCT) and two affiliates (together, the “debtors”) filed chapter 11 bankruptcy cases in the District of Delaware (Judge Walrath). The debtors are in the cloud-based business communications services space, assisting customers who want to transfer their tech, i.e., phone services and other business applications, to the cloud. There are — sigh, tech bros (🙄) — of course, heaps of acronyms for their services: “unified communications as a service” or “UCaaS”; “communications platform as a service” or “CPaaS,” and “Microsoft Teams Direct Routing as a Service” or “DRaaS.”

On January 11, 2023, CA-based Tricida Inc. filed a chapter 11 bankruptcy case in the District of Delaware (Judge Dorsey). The biopharma company created a drug called Veverimer to deal with a relatively common chronic kidney disease. To support development and testing, the company raised $200mm of 3.5% ‘27 convertible notes, incurred a bunch of trade debt and issued a boat load of equity — creating an overflow of unmanageable liability. Why? Well, after initiating trials in ‘18, the company learned in October ‘22 that its trial did not meet its primary endpoint and the drug could not be commercialized at this time. This impacted the company’s access to capital and the company shifted quickly to strategic alternatives and cost reductions (including a RIF). Enter

On January 12, 2023, CA-based FB Debt Financing Guarantor, LLC (d/b/a Morphe Cosmetics) and eight affiliates (the “debtors” or “Morphe”) filed chapter 11 bankruptcy cases in the District of Delaware (Judge Owens). The case, while largely unremarkable from a substantive perspective, offers a rare prize for bankruptcy practitioners — the opportunity to bond with your Gen Z family members!

On January 10, 2023 Quotient Limited filed a prearranged chapter 11 bankruptcy case in the Southern District of Texas (Judge Jones). Its plan and disclosure statement are on file and the voting deadline under is, assuming approval, set for February 7, 2023.

Tupperware Struggles, More Hospitality Distress, Heritage Power

You can find our initial coverage of this chapter 11 bankruptcy filing here: Date: January 23, 2023 Jurisdiction: S.D. of Texas (Judge Jones) Capital Structure: $1.9b of funded debt Company Professionals: Legal: Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP (Ray Schrock, Alexander Welch, Stephanie Morrison, Sean Feener, Gabriel Morgan, Eric Behl-Remijan, Luna Barrington, Richard Gage, David Lender, Stuart Goldring)

Genesis is the latest crypto lender to fall victim to the Crypto Winter.

Party City and Genesis Global File. Rite-Aid looks ill & More

The party is finally over. On January 17, 2023, Party City Holdco Inc. ($PRTY) and thirteen affiliates (the “debtors” or “PCHI”) filed voluntary chapter 11 bankruptcy cases in the Southern District of Texas (Judge Jones). It’s been a tough year for Party City. A month ago, after its disappointing third quarter earnings release,

Add another one to the mix! On January 23, 2023, Rockley Photonics Holdings Limited ($RKLY) — a global medical technology company that specializes in the research and development of integrated silicon photonics chipsets — filed a prepackaged chapter 11 bankruptcy case in the Southern District of New York (

On January 24, 2023, Heritage Power LLC (“Heritage Power”) and eighteen affiliates (the “debtors”) filed chapter 11 bankruptcy cases in the Southern District of Texas (Judge Lopez). Heritage Power is a wholly-owned subsidiary of GenOn Holdings (“GenOn”)

The bankruptcy dockets are beginning to fill up with hospitality cases. See also Golden Seahorse LLC and Times Square JV LLC. On January 22, 2023, a FL-based owner and operator of eight FL-located hotels, AD1 Urban Palm Bay LLC (along with twelve affiliates, the “debtors”), filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in the District of Delaware (