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Learfield Lenders Prep for Restructuring; Instant Pot Maker Hires Advisers; Musk Explores Paying Off Expensive Twitter Debt
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Good day and welcome to WSJ Pro Bankruptcy's Daily Briefing. It's Thursday, January 26. Lenders to college athletic multimedia business Learfield hired lawyers as the company stares down more than $1 billion in debt maturities. The maker of Instant Pot and Pyrex hired restructuring advisers. And Elon Musk looked at options for retiring some of the priciest debt he put on Twitter when he took it over last year.
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Learfield provides a range of multimedia and marketing services in the world of college sports.
PHOTO: MARCO GARCIA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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College sports-marketer Learfield, creditors tap restructuring counsel. Lenders to Learfield, a multimedia and marketing provider to college sports teams, have engaged restructuring attorneys as the company faces more than $1 billion of debt coming due this year, Pro Bankruptcy reports.
A group of lenders to Plano, Texas-based Learfield has engaged law firm Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, while the company is being advised by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, people familiar with the matter said.
Learfield won’t be able to repay all its debts coming due this year based on its current cash balance and expected negative cash flow, S&P Global Ratings said in a report on the company last week. The ratings firm downgraded Learfield deeper into junk territory, saying that a distressed exchange or restructuring is likely over the next six months.
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Kitchenware maker hires restructuring advisers. Instant Brands Inc. hired restructuring advisers to help it address financial challenges brought on by consumers who tightened their discretionary spending in the face of inflation, Pro Bankruptcy reports.
The Illinois-based home appliance maker, backed by private-equity firm Cornell Capital LLC, has hired Guggenheim Partners as financial adviser and law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP to help explore restructuring options to improve the company's liquidity, people familiar with the matter said.
Instant Brands used to sell its kitchenware to Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. but no longer sells products to the troubled retailer, which has struggled to stay on good terms with its vendors as its finances worsened in recent months.
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Twitter’s unsecured bridge loans, which total $3 billion, are the most expensive portion of the $13 billion debt package.
PHOTO: JEFF CHIU/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Elon Musk explores raising up to $3 billion to help pay off Twitter debt. The Twitter owner's team has held talks with investors about raising up to $3 billion to repay some of the $13 billion in debt tacked onto the company as part of his buyout.
That could provide some financial relief to Twitter by paying down an unsecured portion of the debt that carries the highest interest rate within the $13 billion Twitter buyout loan package. The current state of the fundraising talks, which date to December, aren't as clear.
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Juul in December agreed to pay $1.7 billion in a settlement covering over 5,000 lawsuits.
PHOTO: NICK HAGEN FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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Juul in deal talks with three tobacco giants. After flirting with bankruptcy last year, Juul Labs Inc. is in early-stage talks with three tobacco giants as the e-cigarette maker seeks a potential sale, investment or partnership.
Juul in December agreed to pay $1.7 billion in a broad legal settlement covering more than 5,000 product-liability lawsuits. To pay for the settlement, Juul secured an equity investment from a group including two Juul directors, The Wall Street Journal has reported. The settlement and financing put Juul on firmer ground and allowed the company to begin talks with potential strategic partners.
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Florida developer AD1 puts some hotels into chapter 11. Developer AD1 Global Hotels LLC put eight Florida properties under bankruptcy protection, blaming rising interest rates and allegedly unreasonable demands by lender HPS Investment Partners LLC.
The Hollywood, Fla.-based parent company of the hotels isn’t part of the bankruptcy. It plans to seek an equity investor for the properties, and potentially refinance their debt and sell assets. The bankruptcy filing covers eight newly constructed or renovated properties that owe $165 million to HPS.
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Fed Vice Chair Lael Brainard has played a forceful role shaping monetary policy during her tenure.
PHOTO: JIM VONDRUSKA/BLOOMBERG NEWS
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