Section 503(b)(9) of the Bankruptcy Code gives a massive boost to creditors that sold goods to a financially distressed customer shortly before the customer’s bankruptcy filing. While claims for goods sold before a bankruptcy...more
Section 363(m) of the Bankruptcy Code provides that the reversal or modification of an order approving a sale or lease of assets in bankruptcy does not affect the validity of the sale or lease to a good-faith purchaser or...more
On April 19, 2023, Justice Ketangi Brown Jackson, writing for a unanimous Court in MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v. Transform Holdco LLC et.al., 598 U.S. ___ 143 S. Ct. 927 (2023), held that Bankruptcy Code section 363(m) is not...more
In August 1992, the largest indoor shopping mall in the continental United States opened to great fanfare in suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota. Dubbed the Mall of America (MOA), this sprawling retail center enjoyed 330 stores,...more
Section 363(m) of the Bankruptcy Code is one of the most important and well-known statutes to bankruptcy practitioners. This section of the Bankruptcy Code protects a good faith asset purchaser who purchases assets from a...more
In Short - The Situation: The U.S. Supreme Court considered whether § 363(m) of the Bankruptcy Code, which limits a party's ability to undo an asset transfer made to a good-faith purchaser in a bankruptcy case, is...more
In a ruling issued just yesterday, MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v. Transform Holdco LLC et al., 598 U.S. ----, 2023 WL 2992693 (2023) (“MOAC”), the United States Supreme Court (the “Supreme Court”) held that Bankruptcy Code section...more
The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard arguments in MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v. Transform Holdco LLC. The case involves the authority of a court of appeals to review a bankruptcy order authorizing a bankrupt tenant to sell its...more
In an opinion dated Feb. 27, 2020, Judge Colleen McMahon of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York reversed the decision of the bankruptcy court that had granted Sears the right to assign its...more
A recent decision from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (the District Court) in the bankruptcy cases of Sears Holdings Corp. may loom large in a day and age when shopping mall operators...more
In general, a trustee or debtor in possession may assign a lease if it cures any monetary defaults and provides adequate assurance of future performance by the proposed assignee. If the lease is for space in a shopping...more
Many leases for commercial property contain an express covenant of “quiet enjoyment,” which typically provides that the property owner may not interfere with the tenant’s use and occupancy of the property so long as the...more
Successful Chapter 11s for retailers have become few and far between. Sears, Toys "R" Us, Barneys New York, Forever 21, Coldwater Creek, Fred's, Fairway and A&P are just a few examples of recent retail disasters... ...more
Restructurings and uncertainty are hitting the US consumer sector. Retail M&A deal volume dropped 11 percent year-on-year to 459 deals, while deal value dropped 36 percent to US$76.87 billion. Consumer M&A activity...more
BlackRock Inc. will sell out of all companies “that get more than 25% of sales from thermal coal.” This threshold, however, won’t affect larger, diversified miners—which includes some of the biggest coal shippers....more
Google announced late Tuesday that co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are “stepping down from executive roles at Google’s parent company, Alphabet.” Google CEO Sundar Pichai will now helm both operations, while Page and...more
On October 7, 2019, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York confirmed Sears Holdings Corp.’s chapter 11 plan of liquidation. Sears currently owes tens of millions of dollars to its...more
We Work’s largest investor, SoftBank, is reportedly sketching out plans in which it would drop billions of additional money on the company in return for giving Masa Son control of WeWork “and further sidelin[ing] its founder...more
The last several years have been treacherous for the retail sector. Changing shopping patterns and shifting demographics have led some commentators to declare that the (retail) apocalypse is upon us. ...more
Amazon is prepping to execute a more permanent purge on its orders to smaller, mom & pop suppliers as part of a push to “cut costs and focus on wholesale purchasing on major brands like Procter & Gamble, Sony and Lego” in an...more
In October of this year, Sears Holdings Corp and affiliated Debtors filed a Chapter 11 case in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in a case pending before Judge Drain. Since that time, the company...more
Jobs report Friday again. Which, after February’s dismal numbers, is carrying extra importance today. We’ll be keeping an eye on US manufacturing, among other things. Here’s what to watch....more
Fascinating weekend feature from the Journal exploring how Sears Roebuck went from the dominant force in American retailing to the bankrupt shell of a company that it is now—all within a period of just 40 years....more
Lessons For Plan Providers From The Impending Death Of Sears. What you need to learn. Before there was Amazon.com, there was Sears. Whether it was through their catalog or their department stores, it was the place to be...more
Digital disruption and its impact on physical retailers once again weighed on the consumer sector in 2018. Consumer M&A volume was down 13 percent year-on-year to 465 deals in 2018. Value decreased 28 percent to US$119...more