Five questions ahead of decisive Yellow bankruptcy hearing
Executives, attorneys, creditors, and many others invested in the wind-down of Yellow Corp. will gather Sept. 15 for a key hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware that should answer several questions about how the shuttered carrier’s case and auctions of substantial assets will proceed in the coming weeks.
The hearing could add clarity to some important questions in Yellow’s filing and perhaps reveal bidders who haven’t yet gone public with their interest in what remains of the almost 100-year-old company.
Here’s the latest on the Chapter 11 case for what was, until last month, the No. 6 carrier on the 2023 for-hire FleetOwner 500:
- The Sept. 15 hearing is slated to cover a lot of ground. Among the most important items before Judge Craig T. Goldblatt is final approval of the $142 million in debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing Yellow has secured from hedge funds Citadel and MFN Partners (the latter being Yellow’s largest shareholder, having amassed a 42% stake this summer) as well as the procedures that will govern the auction of the defunct company’s assets planned for next month.
- Also on the provisional agenda is finalization of a motion, preliminarily approved by Goldblatt on Sept. 8, to make about
Mercy arranging tours for potential bidders in its bankruptcy sale
IOWA CITY — Mercy Iowa City has arranged tours of its health care facilities next week for potential bidders interested in competing for its assets against the University of Iowa — which last month made an initial “stalking horse” bid of $20 million to buy the 150-year-old community hospital.
During a hearing Wednesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court — following Mercy’s Aug. 7 filing for Chapter 11 protection — attorney Felicia Perlman, representing Mercy through her Chicago firm, McDermott Will & Emery, said, “We do have several parties who have signed (nondisclosure agreements) and are active in the data room, and we are providing diligence to and these tours for.”
“We’ll know more whether they are likely to be real bidders or whether they lose interest,” Perlman told Judge Thad Collins in response to his request for a status update.
She reported active recruitment and outreach to any individuals or entities that have expressed interest.
“We
Not a bribe, Modesto company’s lawyer says of job offer, $150,000 check for hospital CEO
Addressing a federal judge, a lawyer representing a Modesto-based hospital management company stressed that his client back in May wasn’t trying to “bribe” a Central San Joaquin Valley hospital executive when they handed her a $150,000 check and a job offer amid negotiations.
Hamid Rafatjoo, a partner with Raines Feldman Littrell LLP and lawyer for American Advanced Management Inc., told U.S. Judge René Lastreto II over Zoom in court on Tuesday that his client wasn’t trying to gain competitive advantage in a bidding process to take over operations of bankrupt Madera Community Hospital.
“Obviously, there were better ways of handling that process,” Rafatjoo said, “but it didn’t come from a place of trying to bribe anyone.”
“My client did what it did,” he said, adding that the actions took place before he was retained.
A business law expert contacted by The Bee said there was nothing illegal about the offer, though it looks “irregular” and “awkward” and the circumstances suggest it should have been fully disclosed in bankruptcy court.
Rafatjoo also took the opportunity Tuesday to tell the judge that AAMI’s offer to take over operations of Madera Community Hospital was superior to the current proposed partner and that it
Utah tour operator files for bankruptcy: What’s next for those owed money for canceled tours?
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SOUTH JORDAN — In April, KSL Investigators told you about a Utah-based travel company that abruptly canceled overseas tours of many viewers without offering refunds. Thousands of dollars were paid, which prompted many calls to Get Gephardt. Now, that company has filed for bankruptcy protection. So, what happens next?
“They won’t email us. They won’t call us back,” Lynette Clark told us about her communications with tour operator Latter Day Travel.
Clark paid about $6,000 for a tour she booked with Latter Day Travel, but six months before departure, she got an email saying they canceled her tour because of inflation and higher travel costs. No refund was offered. There was only the promise of credit if there are “travel opportunities in the future.”
“I hope that we can get our money back,” she said.
“It’s a lot of money for us,” Laurel Bjornberg said, when KSL Investigators spoke to her about a nearly identical cancellation email she received from the sister company, CruiseBuilder.
She said she paid $4,700 for her tour and, like Clark, got no refund.
“We paid for our trip, and then we have nothing,” she said.
KSL Investigators tried by