Below is our initial take on recent bankruptcy-related developments:
Crypto Brokerage Voyager Digital Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection | CNBC
Voyager Digital filed for bankruptcy this week, just one week after Three Arrows Capital, a crypto hedge fund, went bankrupt after defaulting on billions in loans including $650 million from Voyager.
S&K Take: We wrote earlier this week about the Voyager filing. It has become more clear that Voyager does not intend to return the crypto it holds to its customers on a 1:1 basis. Instead, the plan proposed by Voyager, which it referred to as a “stalking horse” or baseline bid for customers, would hand some crypto back, but would also provide equity and Voyager tokens as consideration to customers. Looking at Voyager’s terms of use, it is pretty clear that customers will not have a good legal argument for the return of their crypto. Under the terms of use, crypto loaned to Voyager is expressly not the property of the customer, and can be loaned to third parties by Voyager. So that would make Voyager customers unsecured lenders in the bankruptcy world.
Scandinavian Airline SAS Clashes with Striking Pilots Over U.S. Bankruptcy Filing | CNBC
A pilots strike that began on Monday, has pushed Scandinavian Airline SAS to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to help reduce their debt and expedite a restructuring plan that was announced earlier this year.
S&K Take: Another huge bankruptcy filing this past week, which has been complicated by labor strife. It looks like SAS will need to address the labor issues before it is able to finalize any postpetition financing that is required to fund its Chapter 11 cases. So the pilot issue will certainly be on the front burner for the debtors. This one has been pushed out of the headlines a bit by the subsequent crypto filings, but will be something that we keep a close eye on.
Crypto Lender Nexo Offers to Buy Embattled Rival Vauld as Market Consolidates | CNBC
Cryptocurrency lender Vauld paused operations as of Monday to explore restructuring options and then agreed to exclusive talks for an all-equity acquisition with Nexo, a competitor of Vauld, in which Nexo would plan to restructure Vauld and expand operations into Southeast Asia and India.
S&K Take: Another domino may fall in the wake of the Terra/Luna collapse. Vauld is another firm that has frozen its assets, although according to this story this may have a happier ending than the Voayager saga. This could be evidence of at least some stabilization of the crypto market, and consolidation is always better than liquidation.
Justice Dept. Bankruptcy Watchdog Sides with Cancer Plaintiffs in J&J Talc Appeal | Reuters
The Department of Justice’s U.S. Trustee sided with the plaintiffs, claiming that Johnson & Johnson abused the bankruptcy system by creating a subsidiary with the “sole purpose” of filing for bankruptcy, to avoid thousands of claims alleging that J&J’s talc products cause cancer.
S&K Take: The appeal of the bankruptcy court’s order denying dismissal of the LTL bankruptcy cases continues. It will be interesting to see how this turns out, and whether the appellate court takes a different view than Judge Kaplan, who found that LTL’s bankruptcy served a legitimate bankruptcy purpose.
