Chapter 11 filings fell 15.9% YoY in 2025, but the cases that did emerge were significantly larger in scale. Just 159 companies meeting Debtwire’s criteria [1] filed in 2025, down from 189 the year prior, yet those filings carried a combined USD 101.7bn in funded debt — a 31.6% increase from 2024’s total. The jump was driven by a wave of mega-filings, including four cases with more than USD 5bn in funded debt: First Brands Group, Sunnova Energy, Ligado Networks, and Wolfspeed.

Notable cases in 2025

First Brands was the biggest Chapter 11 filing of 2025, and the largest filing by funded debt of any company since the filing of Envision Healthcare in May 2023. The company entered Chapter 11 on 28 September, citing more than USD 9bn in funded debt, and court filings since its collapse have pointed to governance and financing irregularities tied to founder and former CEO Patrick James. On 7 November, First Brands received approval for a USD 4.4bn DIP financing facility which, according to Debtwire’s database, is the largest facility since we began keeping records in 2016.

First Brands was not the only large auto parts company to seek bankruptcy protection last year as Marelli Automotive, with USD 4.9bn debt, filed a few months prior in June. The debtor received approval on 30 July for a USD 2.4bn DIP financing facility, which included USD 1.3bn of new money.

Sunnova Energy entered Chapter 11 on 8 June citing USD 8.9bn in funded debt, seeking to bolster near-term liquidity. The company initially proposed asset sales to an affiliate before later securing court approval for a third-party funded DIP financing facility that excluded both cross-collateralization and a roll-up. The debtor, with the second-largest Chapter 11 filing of the year by funded debt, confirmed a liquidation plan on 10 November.

Ligado Networks filed for Chapter 11 on 5 January 2025 with a restructuring support agreement backed by roughly 88% of funded debt holders and centered on equitizing nearly all prepetition debt. The case has faced US government opposition and additional complexity from litigation brought by Inmarsat Global, alleging that Ligado had filed a false FCC application.

Wolfspeed filed under a prepackaged Chapter 11 plan on 30 June, supported by 97% of senior secured noteholders and 67% of convertible noteholders, and secured plan confirmation just 70 days after filing.

As the table below shows, 27 cases last year involved funded debt in excess of USD 1bn, up from 22 in 2024.

Sectors

Healthcare had the largest number of cases in 2025 with 23, but its combined funded debt of USD 7.3bn was low compared to Energy (USD 17.6bn), Automotive (USD 15.8bn), Telecommunications (USD 11bn), Technology (USD 8.5bn), and Retail (USD 8.3bn). In fact, total debt in the healthcare sector was less than the reported funded debt in the cases of First Brands, Sunnova Energy, and Ligado.

Energy, though only the sixth busiest sector by case count, involved the largest share of funded debt in 2025 due to three large cases: Sunnova Energy (USD 8.9bn in funded debt), Pine Gate Renewables (USD 4.6bn) and Global Clean Energy (USD 2.3bn).

A similar concentration of funded debt occurred in the automotive sector due to First Brands and Marelli.

Venue

Delaware remained the most active venue in 2025, with 54 Chapter 11 filings representing 34.0% of the total, though its share declined meaningfully from 43.2% in 2024. That decline coincided with a sharp increase in activity in the Southern District of Texas, which ranked second by case count with 33 filings and accounted for 20.8% of all Chapter 11 cases — up from 13.7% in the prior year.

The Southern District of Texas played an outsized role in last year’s largest restructurings. Chapter 11 cases filed in the court accounted for USD 51.6bn in total funded debt — the highest of any venue — driven by mega-filings such as First Brands, Sunnova Energy and Wolfspeed. Delaware ranked second in terms of funded debt with USD 28.3bn.

New Jersey ranked third in aggregate funded debt at USD 6.5bn, even though it had only seven filings — fewer than the Northern District of Texas (15) and the Southern District of New York (10). Three New Jersey cases each involved more than USD 1bn in funded obligations: United Site Services, Rite Aid’s return to Chapter 11, and Del Monte Foods.

At year-end, Delaware remained the busiest court by pending caseload, with 76 active Chapter 11 cases. The Southern District of Texas and the Northern District of Texas followed with 29 and 21 pending cases, respectively, reflecting the continued migration of large and complex Chapter 11 cases to Texas courts.

Top Judge

In 2025, Judge Christopher M. Lopez of the Southern District of Texas emerged as the most prominent bankruptcy judge by case count and funded debt, overseeing 22 new Chapter 11 cases involving an aggregate USD 33.6bn in obligations. Nine of those filings each involved more than USD 1bn in funded debt, including some of the year’s largest cases such as First Brands and Wolfspeed.

Judge Brendan L. Shannon of Delaware ranked next by case count, with 12 cases assigned in 2025 involving more than USD 7bn in funded debt. His docket included several high-profile matters such as Marelli and Claire’s.

Among the 11 cases assigned to Judge Alfredo Perez in 2025, five of those filings involved debtors with more than USD 1bn in funded debt including Sunnova Energy and Global Clean Energy Holdings.

Debtwire’s year-end rankings for the top 10 busiest bankruptcy judges based on pending caseload placed Judge Lopez of the Southern District of Texas in first place, with 18 Chapter 11 cases on his docket. Judge Thomas Horan of Delaware ranked second with 13 pending cases.

Filing Strategy

Free-fall filings were the dominant Chapter 11 filing strategy in 2025, accounting for 68 of the 159 cases tracked by Debtwire, or 43% of total filings. By funded debt, the year’s largest free‑fall case was First Brands, which also ranked as the largest Chapter 11 filing overall.

Pre-filing sale processes followed closely, with 62 cases representing 39% of total filings. The largest case to enter Chapter 11 after a pre-filing sale process was Sunnova Energy, the second-largest Debtwire-tracked filing of the year by funded debt. The case encountered significant complications at the outset, including litigation related to WARN Act claims.

Pre-arranged plans accounted for 25 Chapter 11 filings, or 16% of the total. The largest case filed with a pre-arranged plan was Ligado.

Prepackaged filings declined notably in 2025 to four cases from 16 in 2024. Klöckner Pentaplast was the largest prepackaged Chapter 11 case of the year, involving USD 2.3bn in funded debt.

The mix shifted only modestly from 2024, during which pre-filing sale processes led activity with 39% of filings (75 of 189 cases), followed by free-fall cases at 35% (67 cases).

[1] This is a special year-end edition of Debtwire’s Weekly US Restructuring Insights Report. The following report uses data from our Restructuring Database (RDB) to provide an overview of Chapter 11 filings in the country. Debtwire’s RDB covers bankruptcy cases with funded debt of USD 10m or more, however, exceptions to that threshold are made for a small number of select and otherwise notable cases. The charts and tables above exclude Chapter 15 filings.