Granite Broadcasting Corp. emerged from bankruptcy protection after fighting off a shareholder group’s last-minute bid to delay the exit pending an appeal of the TV station operator’s reorganization plan, the Associated Press reported yesterday. New York-based Granite, whose chapter 11 plan was confirmed by the court last month over the shareholder group’s rival proposal, exited bankruptcy on Monday under the control of buyout firm Silver Point Capital after cutting its debt by more than $300 million. Granite’s chapter 11 exit comes after a lengthy plan-confirmation battle, which pitted the company’s Silver Point-backed reorganization plan against a proposal put forward by shareholders led by hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners. Judge Allan L. Gropper approved the Granite plan on May 18 over the preferred-shareholders’ plan. Although both proposals called for full repayment for Granite’s creditors, Judge Gropper ruled that the Harbinger-backed plan would have burdened the reorganized company with too much debt.

Ritchie Capital Management Ltd. is preparing to seek bankruptcy protection for life-insurance holdings in its flagship hedge fund, a month after blaming its co-investor for more than $700 million in losses, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Ritchie sued Coventry First LLC on May 2, saying that it concealed a government investigation into fraud against policyholders. The Lisle, Ill.-based hedge-fund manager has been selling assets to pay off clients following two years of subpar returns. It agreed in April to sell a “significant portion” of its multi-strategy fund’s holdings to New York-based Reservoir Capital Group in a transaction valued at $1 billion. It’s been in talks to sell additional assets to potential buyers including Coller Capital Ltd., a London-based private-equity firm. Ritchie tried last year to restructure and pay clients back over two and a half years. It scrapped that plan in December. It had about $2.8 billion under management at the time, including borrowed money.

See Also:  Chapter 7 Bankruptcy