Below is our initial take on recent bankruptcy-related developments:
Regeneron declines to make higher bid for 23andMe after Wojcicki's $305 million offer | Reuters
23andMe founder Anne Wojcicki’s bid, submitted through a nonprofit she controls, remains unchallenged, setting her up to regain control of the company.
S&K Take: The 23andMe debtors picked their horse. They accepted the $305 million bid of TTAM, an entity led by 23andMe co-founder and former CEO Ann Wojcicki, over the (previously) $256 million bid of Regeneron. Regeneron will act as back-up bidder (should the Wojcicki bid fail) but will do so with a bid of $151 million. The debtors and the UCC are all on board with the bid, which will see unsecured creditors paid in full and a significant recovery for equity, which has the stock trading at $4.47 as of market close Thursday (up 12.31% on the day). Is there a catch? Almost always. Texas has been leading the charge in opposition to the bid, arguing that the sale violates consumer privacy laws, and that 23andMe needs the consent of every. single. customer. Seems unwieldy. The sale hearing, originally slated for June 17th was adjourned a day to the 18th. On the 18th, Judge Walsh (remember we are in the ED Mo.) told Texas he wasn’t going to enjoin the sale (which would have defaulted the APA), but that parties should go have a chat and see if they can figure it out. The hearing is set to resume this morning.
Alex Jones accused of trying to hide assets from Sandy Hook families | The Guardian
Last Friday, the trustee overseeing Jones’s personal bankruptcy case filed three lawsuits alleging fraudulent asset transfers.
S&K Take: Quick update on a bizarre case, although the odd nature of the case is not unexpected given the identity of the debtor. Last we left this, the Bankruptcy Court had denied a sale to a third party purchaser (in some unusual circumstances). Not much has happened since then, until the end of last week, when the trustee overseeing Jones’s personal case filed three fraudulent transfer motions against Jones to recover cash and property that were purportedly transferred to hinder creditors’ (namely litigation plaintiffs with a $1.5 billion judgment in hand) efforts to satisfy their judgment. The trustee also names Jones’s family members, who were the recipients of the purportedly fraudulent transfers, which seem to aggregate about $5.3 million. Jones and his family have reiterated that these suits are politically motivated harassment.
Wolfspeed nears bankruptcy deal with lenders including Apollo, Bloomberg News reports | Reuters
Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that the failing silicon carbide chipmaker is soon to announce a “pre-packaged” bankruptcy, with Apollo Global Management as one of its creditors.
S&K Take: The Wolfspeed situation sounded relatively simple yesterday. Apollo was putting in new money and was going to take over the company through a prepack that would “slash billions in debt.” Not so fast, my friends. As of this morning it has been reported that a group of unsecured noteholders represented by Paul Hastings and Houlihan are now bringing in Glenn Agre as special litigation counsel. The group says it has not been involved in any restructuring conversations (typically not a good sign). The group indicated a willingness to provide financing. We will see if cooler heads prevail. It is interesting that there are whispers of a prepack despite what seems to be a large and well-represented dissenting group. A 30 day grace period expires July 2, so expect to see news in the near term.
