Good day and welcome to WSJ Pro Bankruptcy's Daily Briefing. It's Thursday, April 20. In today's newsletter, KKR's Envision is in talks to shift equity to creditors, possibly through bankruptcy. Bed Bath & Beyond is preparing to file as soon as this weekend. And personal-injury lawyers hired bankruptcy counsel from a prominent firm for Johnson & Johnson's mass-tort case.

KKR's Envision weighs bankruptcy. Envision Healthcare is in talks to cede some or all of KKR's ownership stake to creditors, possibly through a chapter 11 filing, Pro Bankruptcy reports.

The troubled physician-staffing business has struggled with debt, litigation and regulatory pressures since its purchase by KKR for roughly $6 billion in 2018. Envision has also engaged in liability-management transactions to try to manage its heavy debt load, notably moving its AmSurg unit away from secured lenders last year to secure new borrowing.

Fitch Ratings suggested earlier this week that this type of distressed transaction tends to only delay debt defaults rather than avoid them. Envision is now considering options including a chapter 11 filing as part of its recapitalization efforts, people familiar with the matter said, although it is possible the company can complete a transaction out-of-court.

Bed Bath & Beyond preparing for bankruptcy within days. Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. is preparing a bankruptcy filing for as early as this weekend as its falling stock price makes it near-impossible to raise enough capital to avert default, Pro Bankruptcy reports.

Given the stock’s closing price on Wednesday of 46 cents, Bed Bath & Beyond faces long odds to raise the $300 million it needs by April 26, when the company will lose its eligibility to sell more equity. The retailer has warned that if it isn’t able to raise sufficient capital through its equity offering, it would have to file for bankruptcy and likely liquidate its assets.

Some personal-injury law firms have rejected J&J’s $8.9 billion offer to settle talc-related injury claims through a bankruptcy plan for its subsidiary LTL Management LLC. Other firms have accepted the health-products company’s proposal and tapped Paul Hastings to represent them in LTL’s chapter 11 case, people familiar with the matter said.

Webinar: Prospects for Private Credit. On April 25, we will be discussing the prospects for private credit in a virtual event. Private credit has been booming for 20 years, but we will be looking at how lending, borrowing and investing in the asset class could be affected by rising interest rates and higher risk. Speakers include Jean Hsu of the California Public Employees Retirement System and Spyro Alexopoulos of Golub Capital.

You can register here.

Boy Scouts' end more than three years in bankruptcy. After filing for bankruptcy in 2020, the Boy Scouts of America has emerged from chapter 11 after an appeals court denied opponents’ request to pause the youth group’s reorganization efforts. Its chapter 11 plan became effective Wednesday, officially ending its bankruptcy case and starting up the largest-ever compensation fund for victims of childhood sexual abuse.

• Mall of America wins Supreme Court case over $10 annual Sears lease. The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday revived Mall of America’s dispute with the former chairman of Sears Holdings Corp. over a $10-a-year store lease, while bolstering the ability of landlords and vendors more broadly to challenge the sales of bankrupt businesses.

Insurer's shares slide after going-concern warning. Shares of United Insurance Holdings Corp. lost nearly half of their value Tuesday after the insurer warned of doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. In its annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the St. Petersburg, Fla., company said the going-concern doubt stems from uncertainties regarding the allocation of reinsurance recoveries under its core catastrophe reinsurance program.

Fed reports slowing lending after bank failures. Consumers and businesses borrowed less as overall economic growth flattened in the weeks since two mid-March bank failures sparked financial turmoil, the Federal Reserve said in a report Wednesday. Banks in several parts of the country tightened lending standards and raised concerns about liquidity and uncertain expectations for future growth after Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed, some of the Fed’s 12 regional reserve banks reported.

• The era of easy deposits is over for main street banks. The smaller banks that serve a wide swath of America’s consumers and businesses are starting to pay up to keep their deposits. Regional banks are responding to pressure from consumers and business owners who have decided they are no longer satisfied keeping their money in accounts that paid little or no interest. The collapse last month of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank accelerated the shift.
• Deal-making lull crimps earnings at Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs. Wall Street banks had hoped that deal making would rev back up in early 2023. So far, it hasn’t.

Top Fed official signals support for May rate hike. A top Federal Reserve official said the central bank had more work ahead to bring down inflation, suggesting another interest-rate increase would be warranted at the Fed’s meeting in two weeks.

According to CME Group, investors see a greater than 80% chance that the Fed will raise rates by a quarter point at its May 2-3 meeting. Mr. Williams, a close ally of Fed Chair Jerome Powell, offered little to push back against those expectations.

Share your tips, suggestions and feedback with the WSJ Pro Bankruptcy team: Soma Biswas; Alexander Gladstone; Jodi Xu Klein; Akiko Matsuda; Jonathan Randles; Alexander Saeedy; Andrew Scurria; Becky Yerak. 

Follow us on Twitter: @SomaBisWSJ; @gladstonea; @jodixu; @AskAkiko; @Sparkyrandles; @ajsaeedy; @AndrewScurria; @beckyyerak.