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FAT Brands Faces Bondholders' Ire Over Stock Sale; New Crypto Winter Arrives
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Welcome to WSJ Pro Bankruptcy's Daily Briefing. It's Monday, February 9. In today's briefing, FAT Brands raised a few million bucks to stay afloat by selling public stock, but has provoked more fighting with its bondholders. With crypto prices tumbling, longtime bulls are looking for answers why. And Optimum's lenders made their case for why they didn't breach antitrust law.
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Universal Images Group/Getty Images
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FAT Brands bondholders seek CEO ouster over ‘mystery’ stock sale. FAT Brands founder and CEO Andrew Wiederhorn directed the issuance of nine million shares of stock in its affiliate Twin Hospitality Group to special-situations investor White Lion Capital shortly after FAT Brands and Twin Hospitality filed for chapter 11, court records show. White Lion then likely resold those shares on the public stock market, according to court records.
Bondholders owed nearly $1 billion on Thursday asked the judge overseeing FAT Brands’ case to suspend Wiederhorn as CEO, saying he executed the “unilateral and unlawful” stock sale without the required court approval.
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Optimum lenders defend cooperation pact. Lenders to Optimum Communications accused the company of "weaponizing" U.S. antitrust laws to prevent them from coordinating their response to its restructuring efforts.
Ares Management, Oaktree Capital Management and others asked a federal court in New York to dismiss Optimum's lawsuit alleging they formed an illegal cartel to fix prices of the company's debt. The antitrust lawsuit targets the lenders' use of a cooperation agreement in which they pledged to act in unison in restructuring talks.
The lenders said in response on Friday that cooperation agreement are not just lawful but "procompetitive" because they mitigate the threat of liability management transactions that could pit them against each other.—Andrew Scurria
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Emil Lendof/WSJ, iStock
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A new crypto winter is here. Bulls don't know why. Market theories for the crypto selloff have ranged from investors’ pivot toward the prediction markets and other risky bets, to widespread profit-taking after a blistering bull run. Past crypto selloffs had clearer explanations, which has made this one more mystifying.
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Eddie Bauer files for bankruptcy protection. The operator of Eddie Bauer stores in the U.S. and Canada has filed for bankruptcy, becoming the latest retailer to do so as headwinds challenge the industry.
Eddie Bauer LLC announced the move Monday, saying it has entered into a restructuring support agreement with lenders.
The company made the “difficult decision” to implement a court-supervised sale process after careful deliberation, said Marc Rosen, chief executive of Catalyst Brands.
Apparel group Catalyst was formed last year via the merger of department store chain JCPenney with Sparc Group, the owner of brands including Eddie Bauer and Nautica.
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Excluded lenders appeal OPI's DIP. A group of 2027 noteholders for Office Properties Income Trust is appealing a bankruptcy judge’s approval of a revised $125 million debtor-in-possession loan package.
Judge Christopher Lopez of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston approved the revised loan proposal backed by a group of OPI’s 2029 noteholders, after the group addressed his earlier concerns. The judge had initially found that the loan’s restrictive covenants would have hindered OPI’s business judgment and the court’s oversight of the chapter 11 proceedings.
The revised terms give OPI more autonomy over litigation settlements and loan repayment by decoupling the DIP loan from OPI’s restructuring support agreement with the 2029 noteholders. The 2027 group, which maintains that its competing proposal was superior, has formally appealed.—Akiko Matsuda
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Gabriela Bhaskar for The Wall Street Journal
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