The Daily Docket: Harbinger Bid Delays DBSD Sale

A judge on Wednesday pushed back a ruling on whether DBSD North America Inc. can move forward with its $1.1 billion sale to Dish Network Corp., giving DBSD and its creditors time to discuss details of the Dish plan and a competing plan by Phil Falcone’s Harbinger Capital Partners hedge-fund firm and fellow investment company Solus Alternative Asset Management. Read the Daily Bankruptcy Review story here.

Also in today’s DBR, Wayzata Investment Partners will hold two of the five seats on the board of Majestic Star Casino LLC when the gambling company exits Chapter 11 and catalog retailer Orchard Brands Inc. is cleared to solicit creditors’ votes on a bankruptcy-exit plan that eliminates some $420 million in debt and makes the company the property of its senior lenders. In DBR Small Cap, the operator of the David Barton gym chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

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The Wall Street Journal reports the owners of the New York Mets, who face a $1 billion lawsuit related to withdrawals they made from Bernard Madoff’s investment firm, are expected to face additional allegations from a court-appointed trustee about how they may have benefited from the multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme if they fail to reach a settlement, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Boise County, Idaho, which, despite its name, isn’t home to the capital city of Boise, filed for municipal bankruptcy protection because of an inability to pay a multimillion-dollar judgment against it, WSJ reports.

WSJ says a $771 million lawsuit by a group of former General Motors of Canada Ltd. dealers against the car maker has been granted class-action status by an Ontario court, according to the law firm representing the plaintiffs.

Nebraska Book Co., the textbook retailer with creditors including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Cerberus Capital Management LP, hired advisers to help restructure its debt and prepare for a possible bankruptcy filing, Bloomberg reports.

Vallejo, Calif., retirees, upset they could receive as little as one-eighth the percentage of repayment that the Bay Area city proposes to pay its largest creditors in its bankruptcy case, are suggesting city could allow a bank takeover of city structures, the Contra Costa Times reports.