Forward Motions: Court to Hear GT Advanced Privacy Concerns

A much-anticipated hearing in the nascent bankruptcy of Apple Inc. supplier GT Advanced Technologies Inc. is scheduled to take place Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Springfield, Mass. At the hearing, a judge will hear why GT Advanced believes it should be allowed to file information about what led to the sapphire producer’s bankruptcy under seal and out of the public eye.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Henry Boroff said at a Wednesday hearing that he is having difficulty understanding what should be kept confidential in the documents, saying he is leaning toward unsealing as much as he can.

For its part, GT Advanced said it can’t detail its troubles with Apple publicly without risking having to pay $50 million in damages for violating confidentiality agreements.

Apple offered $578 million worth of financing for GT to manufacture materials that were expected to be used to create screens for the tech giant’s newest smartphones. But instead of GT Advanced-manufactured sapphire, Apple sent its new iPhones out with Corning Inc.'s Gorilla Glass. GT Advanced filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection without giving a thorough explanation for the surprise move.

Kentucky coal miner U.S. Coal Corp. heads to U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Ashland, Ky., on Thursday to win approval of several proposed bonuses to executives, including a $500,000 bonus for its chief financial officer.

Under the proposed bonus, finance officer Michael Windisch would get as little as $110,500 in a scenario in which unsecured creditors get repaid less than 15% of their debt. The bonus money would increase to as much as $510,000 if the percentage rises.

Federal bankruptcy watchdog Samuel Crocker protested the bonus last month, saying the success of the company’s reorganization depends more on coal production and the price of coal than on Mr. Windisch’s efforts.

A lawyer for U.S. Coal told The Wall Street Journal that the bonus plan has support from a group of U.S. Coal creditors who formed a committee to monitor the case.

Company officials are also asking to pay bonuses to two other finance employees—Controller Erin Gabbert and Assistant Controller William Manning—whose bonuses would grow the longer that they remain employed with the company.

U.S. Coal officials are using bankruptcy protection to negotiate breaks on the roughly $75 million of debt owed by the company, which has estimated coal reserves of 50.7 million tons in the central Appalachia region of eastern Kentucky.

Friday, cooperative food distributor Associated Wholesalers Inc. is scheduled to hold an auction for the company’s assets.

Three potential bidders are currently vying for the company. C&S Wholesale Grocers is serving as the lead bidder with an offer largely based on debt forgiveness valued at up to $170.1 million, court filings show. National grocery wholesaler SuperValu Inc. and regional New England wholesaler Bozzuto’s Inc. are also weighing offers, according to court filings and an attorney involved in the case. Competing bids are due Wednesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del.

The sale process aims to put Associated Wholesalers into the hands of new owners by the end of the month.

Associated Wholesalers, based in Robesonia, Pa., distributes food and household products to 800 customers, primarily mom-and-pop grocery stores. The company ran into financial trouble following its 2006 acquisition of White Rose Inc., a New York-based company that sells brand-name food products as well as items under the White Rose name, to another 450 customers.

-Patrick Fitzgerald, Joseph Checkler and Katy Stech contributed to this article.

Write to Sara Randazzo at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @sara_randazzo.