Debtwire’s Weekly US Restructuring Insights Report uses data from our Restructuring Database (RDB) (click here for access) to provide an overview of in-court restructurings in the country. The 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 below exclude Chapter 15 filings, and the cut-off for new filings to be added to this report was midnight Sunday (10 March). 

New Filings

Bowflex Inc. and Charge Enterprises filed for Chapter 11 protection last week — they were the only new cases added to Debtwire’s RDB. Including these cases, there have been 30 bankruptcy filings (all Chapter 11s) involving USD 15.7bn in funded debt year-to-date as of 10 March, versus 42 cases and USD 14.96bn debt in the same period last year.

Home fitness machine maker Bowflex filed on 4 March with its only funded debt being USD 16m outstanding on a Wells Fargo-arranged first-lien term loan facility. Bowflex plans to sell all of its assets and entered bankruptcy with a USD 37.5m stalking horse bid from Taiwan-based, home and commercial fitness equipment manufacturer Johnson Health Tech Retail Inc. The case will be funded with a USD 25m DIP that includes a USD 9m new money revolver.

Electric vehicle charging and broadband infrastructure company Charge Enterprises filed on March 7th with USD 27.8m funded debt. The company filed with a pre-packaged plan negotiated with pre-petition lenders who have agreed to provide a USD 10m DIP.

Busiest Courts

Bowflex’s Chapter 11 was the fourth filed this year in New Jersey, continuing the state’s assent as a key restructuring hub.  Sidley Austin is lead counsel for Bowflex, which is notable because of the 12 Chapter 11s filed in New Jersey since the start of 2023, Kirkland & Ellis has been debtor counsel on 9 of those cases (see table below).

Busiest Chapter 11 Judges

Judge Christopher M. Lopez of the Southern District of Texas remained the busiest judge in terms of ongoing Chapter 11 cases tracked by Debtwire, as the table below shows.

Confirmed Cases

Four debtors secured confirmation of their plans last week: Lordstown Motors, AeroCision, Proterra Inc, and Infinity Pharmaceuticals.

Sectors

Healthcare (36%) with 11 cases and retail (13%) with four cases were the top two sectors in terms of the number of cases filed so far this year.

Billion Dollar Bankruptcies

As the table below shows, there are 14 companies with pending Chapter 11 cases that involve funded debt of USD 1bn or more.