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.

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.
 

• 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.

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.

• Earlier: How Elon Musk’s Twitter Faces Mountain of Debt, Falling Revenue and Surging Costs

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.

Digital Currency Group subsidiary Luno lays off 35% of staff. Cryptocurrency exchange Luno has laid off around 35% of its global workforce, dealing a fresh setback to parent company Digital Currency Group.

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.

GenOn’s power-plant owner Heritage files bankruptcy. Heritage Power LLC, a power-plant operator owned by GenOn Holdings LLC filed for bankruptcy with a lender backed-plan to trim debt from its balance sheet, saying its business has struggled because of low electricity prices and operational problems during extreme winter weather last month.

White House considers Fed vice chair for role as Biden’s top economic adviser. President Biden is strongly considering Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard to become the next head of the National Economic Council, according to administration officials and others familiar with the matter, at a crucial period for the U.S. economy amid recession concerns and as the president prepares to seek re-election.

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