James River Set to Auction Its Assets -- Week Ahead

    By Joseph Checkler 
 

James River Coal Co. (JRCCQ), is scheduled to auction the company off Tuesday at the Manhattan offices of its bankruptcy counsel, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.

The auction was originally scheduled for July 8, but James River has been wavering among reorganizing, liquidating, or selling its assets.

Even with the uncertainty, James River said in a filing last month that several "potential strategic and financial bidders" have shown interest in the company.

James River filed for bankruptcy in April in Richmond, Va., after skipping an interest payment on its debt amid mounting losses and tight liquidity. The coal industry, including James River, has experienced sharp declines as the cost of natural gas, a competing energy source, has fallen and as gas demand has risen in the U.S.

The company, which ships coal to electricity generators, industrial users and steel companies, entered bankruptcy with more than $800 million in overall debt.

Tuesday in Manhattan, LightSquared will update its bankruptcy judge on its newest reorganization plan.

A proposal is expected to be filed Monday that will include participation from Dish Network Corp. (DISH) Chairman Charlie Ergen, LightSquared said at a hearing last week. The plan would give Mr. Ergen a $1 billion allowed claim in the bankruptcy case and calls for him to invest $300 million in new money into the wireless venture.

A lawyer for Harbinger Capital Partners founder Philip Falcone, who controls LightSquared's equity but will only hold a small piece of the company after the restructuring, called the inclusion of Mr. Ergen a "stunning reversal to us" at a hearing last week.

Earlier this month, LightSquared unveiled a $3.05 billion restructuring plan that would have given 74% of the wireless venture to Cerberus Capital Management LP, Fortress Investment Group LLC and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and would have left Mr. Falcone with just 12.5% of the reorganized company's equity. It is unclear how much of that proposal will change now that Mr. Ergen is involved.

Mr. Falcone and other Harbinger officials were involved in the discussions for the plan before Mr. Ergen's inclusion. Mr. Falcone and other Harbinger representatives who had previously agreed to resign from LightSquared's board when it reorganized have already done so.

LightSquared filed for Chapter 11 in May 2012 after federal regulators refused to clear its plans to launch its wireless network, which they said could interfere with global-positioning systems.

Without support from the FCC, LightSquared isn't able to fully use spectrum, limited pockets of airwaves that mobile-phone and Internet companies use, that it owns.

Crumbs Bake Shop Inc. (CRMB) will ask a Trenton, N.J. judge Thursday to approve procedures for an auction of the company to challenge the lead bid of roughly $6.5 million by Fischer Enterprises LLC and CNBC star Marcus Lemonis.

A lawyer for Crumbs has said any competing bid would have to be for at least $7 million.

Fischer Enterprises owns Dippin' Dots, which it bought out of bankruptcy in 2012. Mr. Lemonis is chief executive of retailer Camping World, and host of a CNBC reality show, "The Profit," in which he invests his money in fledgling small businesses.

Crumbs filed for Chapter 11 last Friday after the company said it had defaulted on a $9.3 million senior secured loan. The shop closed all 49 of its locations, and all but nine of the company's more than 450 employees were dismissed.

-Sara Randazzo and Tom Corrigan contributed to this article.

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