Saks Global gains approval for Chapter 11 exit plan

BY Fraser Tennant

At the final stage of its restructuring process, luxury retail company Saks Global has received bankruptcy court approval of its Chapter 11 exit plan – confirmation which paves the way for its emergence with a strengthened financial foundation.

The luxury retailer, which owns Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in mid-January 2026, having struggled with the heavy debt burden incurred from its $2.7bn acquisition of Neiman Marcus in late 2024, alongside a general slowdown in luxury spending

The restructuring plan – approved by the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas – gained support across the capital structure from participating creditors, the overwhelming majority of which voted in favour.

The plan is expected to significantly reduce the company’s funded debt from $3.4bn to about $1.2bn, wiping out existing equity and handing control to senior lenders, who have provided $1bn in new funding through the bankruptcy and pledged an additional $500m ​after the company ​exits Chapter 11.

“With significantly reduced debt on the company’s balance sheet at emergence and having already achieved substantial cost savings through the optimisation of our footprint, operations and organisation, our business is well positioned for future success,” said Brandy Richardson, chief financial officer at Saks Global. “We look forward to driving profitable growth as a stronger Saks Global, leveraging our distinct and differentiated assets.”

The plan also establishes the foundation for the company to accelerate sales growth, with a focus on strong full-price selling, and to generate $9bn in total gross merchandise value and double-digit adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation by 2030.

Upon completion of the restructuring process, the company will emerge with 49 luxury retail locations, including 33 Neiman Marcus stores, 15 Saks Fifth Avenue ​stores, and Bergdorf Goodman. Saks Global entered bankruptcy with 33 Saks Fifth Avenue ​locations.

Geoffroy van Raemdonck, chief executive of Saks Global, said: “With our capital partners’ commitment and the dedication of our talented team, we are on track to emerge as a stronger, more focused company, poised for profitable and sustainable growth.”

News: Saks Global wins court approval for bankruptcy restructuring

Crypto collapse: Bitcoin Depot files for Chapter 11

BY Fraser Tennant

Bitcoin Depot, the largest bitcoin automated teller machine (BTMs) operator in North America, has filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy and shut down its entire network of over 9000 machines.

With the company having exhausted other alternatives before seeking bankruptcy protection, the court will oversee proceedings, which include Bitcoin Depot’s Canadian entities. Separate restructuring proceedings are expected to commence in Canada.

Founded in 2016 with the mission to connect those who prefer to use cash to the broader, digital financial system, Bitcoin Depot provides its users with simple, efficient and intuitive means of converting cash into Bitcoin, which users can deploy in the payments, spending and investing space.

However, under severe financial pressure for months prior to the bankruptcy filing, the company reported a 49.2 percent revenue decline year over year for the first quarter of 2026, as well as posting a $9.5m net loss compared with $12.2m in net income a year earlier.

“Over time, the company has strengthened its protocols and procedures to combat fraud and protect customers who use its BTMs,” said Alex Holmes, chief executive of Bitcoin Depot. “This includes enhanced identity verification, customer fraud warnings and the recent adoption of lower transaction limits for customers.

“Nevertheless, the regulatory environment for BTM operators has shifted significantly,” he continued. “States have imposed increasingly stringent compliance obligations, including new transaction limits, and in some jurisdictions, outright restrictions or bans on BTM operations. Operators have also faced increasing litigation and regulatory enforcement.”

As a result, the company’s stock has plummeted 79.48 percent over the past six months. In another setback, hackers breached the company’s IT systems and stole $3.7m from its crypto wallets.

As a result of these developments, Bitcoin Depot’s business and financial position was materially affected, leaving the company’s current business model unsustainable.  

“After evaluating all options, we determined to initiate this court-supervised process to facilitate an orderly wind-down of operations and a sale of the company’s assets,” said Mr Holmes. “We are grateful to our customers, suppliers and business partners for their support. I also want to thank our employees across the globe for their continued hard work and dedication.”

News: Bitcoin Depot Initiates Voluntary Chapter 11 Process To Facilitate An Orderly Wind-Down And Sale Of The Company's Assets

QVC files for Chapter 11 to implement RSA

BY Fraser Tennant

Citing major financial headwinds, US media conglomerate QVC Group – the parent company behind well-known shopping channels QVC and HSN – has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The filing will allow QVC to implement a restructuring support agreement (RSA) with holders representing a significant majority of the company’s outstanding funded debt. No layoffs or furloughs are planned in connection with the financial restructuring process.

Aiming to cut its debt from $6.6bn to $1.3bn and exit bankruptcy within 90 days, the RSA outlines the terms of a comprehensive prepackaged financial restructuring plan that will substantially reduce the company’s debt and strengthen its financial position.

As of 31 December 2025, QVC had over $1bn in domestic cash and cash equivalents. Together with cash generated from ongoing operations, the company has ample liquidity to meet its business obligations during the court-supervised process. Under the terms of the RSA, all third-party general unsecured creditors will have their claims paid in full or reinstated.

Not included in the court-supervised process are QVC’s subsidiaries and entities outside of the US. The only exception is a non-operating subsidiary in Luxembourg that has no team members, customers, vendors or business partners.

The company’s global business operations are continuing as normal, including customer-facing operations in the UK, Germany, Japan and Italy, and paying vendors and suppliers as usual across all of these geographies.

“We have consolidated our HSN and QVC operations, struck new deals with critical social and media partners, and rebalanced sourcing to account for the changing tariff environment,” said David Rawlinson, president and chief executive of QVC Group. “We are uniquely positioned to compete and win in live social shopping, and are seeing early momentum in our WIN Growth Strategy.”

Launched in 2024, the WIN Growth Strategy aims to drive long-term growth and profitability by repositioning QVC as a cross-platform live shopping ecosystem, spanning social media, streaming services, e-commerce sites and traditional TV broadcast channels.

“We appreciate the ongoing support of our valued vendors and business partners, and we are grateful to our team members for their unwavering dedication to QVC Group and our customers,” concluded Mr Rawlinson. “The Chapter 11 process will allow for QVC Group to have the financial structure it needs to accelerate our return to growth.”

News: TV shopping empire behind QVC, HSN files for bankruptcy amid mounting losses

Crytpo lender BlockFills has filed for Chapter 11 protection

BY Richard Summerfield

Chicago-based crypto trading firm BlockFills has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware as it seeks to restructure its business and stabilise operations.

According to court filings, the company has assets between $50m and $1bn and liabilities ranging from $100m to $500m. Court documents show that BlockFills expects between 1000 and 5000 creditors as part of the bankruptcy proceedings. Meanwhile, the 30 largest unsecured claims exceed $119m, with most classified as unliquidated customer claims.

The largest creditor listed in the filings is 007 Capital LLC, which holds a claim of about $17m. Other major claims include the Richard E Ward Revocable Trust with $9.4m and Artha Investment Partners LLC with $6.9m. The creditor list includes both institutional investors and retail participants from the global crypto market.

On Sunday, the company issued a statement noting that filing for Chapter 11 was the most responsible step after discussions with investors, clients and creditors.

According to BlockFills, the court-supervised process will allow it to restructure its operations, stabilise the business and explore new sources of liquidity while continuing to engage with stakeholders. The filing was “the most responsible path forward” following extensive discussions with investors, clients and creditors.

“This filing will allow the firm to implement an orderly restructuring while maintaining transparency and oversight through the court-supervised process,” the company said. It added that the move was intended to “stabilize the business, pursue additional sources of liquidity and recovery, and explore potential strategic transactions”, while maintaining that protecting client interests “remains a priority”.

BlockFills’ Chapter 11 filing comes against a backdrop of worsening legal pressures. Earlier in March, a US federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against BlockFills in a lawsuit brought by Dominion Capital, temporarily freezing certain assets tied to the dispute.

According to a 27 February court filing, Dominion accused BlockFills of misappropriating customer assets and refusing to return millions of dollars’ worth of cryptoassets that Dominion had stored on the BlockFills platform. According to Dominion, BlockFills had a balance sheet shortfall of roughly $77m by the end of 2025. Dominion alleged that BlockFills used those pooled assets to cover its own operating costs, including crypto mining operations, equipment purchases and settlements with other firms.

In light of its financial challenges, BlockFills suspended customer deposits and withdrawals on 11 February. The company has been dealing with financial pressure and legal issues tied to alleged asset misappropriation involving Dominion Capital. As a result, the company announced it was temporarily suspending client deposits and withdrawals “in light of recent market and financial conditions, and to further the protection of clients and the firm”.

According to BlockFills’ 2025 review, it processed over $61bn in transaction volume in 2025, up 28 percent from the previous year, and served over 20,000 institutional clients, including hedge funds and asset managers, across more than 95 countries.

News: Crypto Selloff Sends Trading Platform BlockFills To Ch. 11es/2453372/crypto-selloff-sends-trading-platform-blockfills-to-ch-11

Azul Airlines emerges from Chapter 11

BY Fraser Tennant

Marking a pivotal moment in the company's transformational journey, Brazilian airline Azul has completed its voluntary financial restructuring process and emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The airline, which filed in May 2025 citing pandemic-related debt and operational costs, has strengthened its balance sheet, enhanced liquidity, reduced lease expense and liabilities, and improved every aspect of its operations to support long-term sustainability and sustainable growth.

Azul’s restructuring was supported by key financial stakeholders, including its existing bondholders, its largest lessor AerCap (representing the majority of the company's aircraft lease liability) and other lessors, original equipment manufacturers, and suppliers counterparties, and its strategic partners, United Airlines and American Airlines.

“This is a defining milestone for Azul,” said John Rodgerson, chief executive of Azul. “In just under nine months, we completed a comprehensive restructuring that has materially strengthened our balance sheet and positioned Azul for long-term stability. We are emerging from Chapter 11 with the support of some of the most respected financial and strategic partners in global aviation.”

This support includes $850m of new equity investments at emergence, including from existing bondholders and $100m from United Airlines, as well as commitment with American Airlines for an incremental $100m equity investment, subject to antitrust approval.

With a strengthened financial position and the continued support of its stakeholders, Azul is entering its next phase from a position of strength, and remains focused on connecting Brazil like no other airline while delivering industry-leading service, reliability and value to customers.

The largest airline in Brazil in terms of cities served, Azul offers more than 800 daily flights to 137 destinations. With an operational fleet of around 200 aircraft and over 15,000 crew members, the company operates a network of 250 direct routes.

Ranked by aviation data analytics company Cirium as the second most punctual airline in the world in 2023, Azul was also lauded as the best airline in the world by TripAdvisor in 2020, marking the first time a Brazilian airline achieved first place in the Traveler's Choice Awards.

“I am especially proud of our crew members, whose dedication and resilience allowed us to continue operating at a high level throughout this process,” added Mr Rodgerson. “Their unwavering commitment to our customers ensured Azul never lost focus on what matters most: connecting Brazil with excellence and reliability.”

News: Azul completes Chapter 11 restructuring, reduces debt by $2.5 billion