Bed Bath & Beyond, the home goods retailer, has filed bankruptcy under Chapter 11 and plans to conduct liquidation sales and close all of its brick-and-mortar stores by June 30, as reported by The New York Times. The retailer points to an inability to adjust to the growth of online shopping as a reason
CNN reports on the Federal Reserve’s decision to raise its target interest rate by an additional 75 basis points to a range of 3.00% to 3.25% in an effort to combat persistent inflation in the US. This is the fifth time the Federal Reserve has raised rates this year. [CNN; Sept. 21, 2022]
According to The Wall Street Journal, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. has reached a national settlement agreement worth nearly $5 billion, including about $3.7 billion in cash, to resolve thousands of lawsuits over its alleged role in the opioid crisis. The plaintiffs’ executive committee, which represents local and state governments and Native American tribes, reported
US mortgage rates hit 5% this week for the first time in more than a decade, continuing a rapid ascent since the start of 2022. According to The Wall Street Journal, interest on the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage climbed from 4.72% a week ago to its highest level since early 2011. Now, bankers and
According to Reuters, businesses are contending with increased costs as supply chain issues continue to disrupt the economy. Companies have struggled to keep up with demand for consumer goods, which soared during the pandemic. Costs include rising prices for raw materials due to halted factory production and backlogs of ships waiting to unload cargo
Fox Business reports that Boy Scouts of America’s insurer Chubb Ltd. has pledged to contribute $800 million to the Boy Scouts of America’s bankruptcy settlement deal. Boy Scouts of America, which filed for bankruptcy in February 2020, is currently on track to settle with approximately 82,500 tort claimants who claim they were sexually abused as children by troop leaders. The latest contribution by Chubb raises the total amount of available funds to resolve the claims to more than $2.7 billion. The fund is also backed by Boy Scouts of America’s primary insurer, the Hartford Financial Group, as well as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ultimately, Boy Scouts of America’s emergence from Chapter 11 hinges on a settlement with tort claimants, and, while several victims have voiced support for the settlement deal, a separate committee of claimants voiced concerns that the deal compromises too much in exchange for a quick exit. The abuse claimants have until December 28th to vote on the reorganization. [Fox Business; Dec. 13, 2021]
Continue Reading What We’re Reading This Week [December 16, 2021]
The Economist discusses how the Omicron variant has exacerbated potential threats to the world economy, including that tightening of domestic and global travel restrictions in response to Omicron will harm growth, that the variant will cause further supply chain bottlenecks that may result in inflation heading even higher, and that the variant may cause a
Los Angeles Business Journal reports on the anticipated increase in bankruptcy filings by hotels in light of the uneven economic recovery and reduction of government support, as lender patience is expected to wear thin.
The Wall Street Journal writes that businesses are taking a wait-and-see approach to the new Omicron variant of Covid-19 that emerged
Whether—and in what circumstances—a debtor should pay creditors a make-whole premium continues to be litigated in bankruptcy courts. Last week, as reported by Bloomberg, Judge Dorsey (Delaware) ruled that the debtor – Mallinckrodt Plc – did not need to pay a make whole premium to first lien lenders in order to reinstate such obligations
Hertz is making big news just months after emerging from its successful Chapter 11 bankruptcy. As reported by NBC News, Hertz has signed deals with Tesla (to add at least 100,000 Teslas to its fleet), Uber (to make up to half of those Teslas available to Uber drivers), and with Carvana (to sell its