bankruptcy

The California solar manufacturing company to which the federal government loaned $528 million--and which closed its doors, laying off hundreds of workers--will be in a U.S. bankruptcy court in Delaware this morning.

The proceeding is likely to shed more light on Solyndra, which closed abruptly just a few weeks ago, reports CBS News correspondent John Blackstone.

At today's bankruptcy hearing, Solyndra will ask for permission to auction off its state-of-the-art factory built with more than $500 million from the federal government.

Dutch certificate authority DigiNotar is closing up shop following a recent hacking attack that caused it to issue a series of phony online security certifcates.

Parent company Vasco announced the bankruptcy filing yesterday, explaining that a trustee will work with the court as DigiNotar goes through the bankruptcy process.

Vasco is also currently analyzing the extent of the damage caused by the cyberattack.

"We are working to quantify the damages caused by the hacker's intrusion into DigiNotar's system and will provide an estimate of the range of losses as soon as possible, "Cliff Bown, Vasco's … Read more

Bankrupt solar-panel maker Solyndra said it needed more than the initially expected four weeks to find a buyer to take over its idled operations, which were funded with a controversial $535 million federal loan guarantee.

Solyndra filed for bankruptcy this month with a plan to try to find a buyer by early October who could restart its recently shuttered factory and rehire some of its 1,000 staff.

Republican lawmakers have accused the Obama administration of ignoring signs of financial trouble at the company in its haste to grant the loan guarantee and participate in a groundbreaking of Solyndra's federally backed factory in California. … Read more

American solar-system manufacturer Solyndra announced today that it would suspend operations immediately and file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

More than 1,000 employees have been laid off, effective immediately.

The company offered "global economic and solar industry market conditions" as the reason. In March 2009, the company received a $535 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Treasury's Federal Financing Bank. The money was used to expand manufacturing capacity in Fremont, Calif.

Options for the company's bankruptcy include the licensing of its CIGS technology and manufacturing expertise and an outright sale of its business.

The … Read more

As expected, Dish Network has had to continue to whittle down Blockbuster.

Dish, the satellite TV company, said today in a statement that it will continue to operate "more than 1,500 U.S. Blockbuster stores," but added that "despite our efforts to reach reasonable terms, some property owners have closed stores."

In April, Dish paid $320 million for Blockbuster as part of a bankruptcy auction, one of the many humiliations the once-dominant video rental company has had to suffer in recent years. Dish wouldn't say exactly how many stores would close but it could … Read more

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge today approved Dish Network's $320 million acquisition of Blockbuster, once the largest movie rental chain.

"We are pleased to have purchased the assets of Blockbuster and look forward to building on the nationally recognized Blockbuster brand while improving the experience of delivering entertainment to consumers," Tom Cullen, executive vice president for Dish Network, said in a statement.

The satellite provider announced its intention to purchase most of the rental chain's assets earlier this month at a bankruptcy court auction. Under the terms of the deal, the acquisition was expected to … Read more

Dust off that Sharper Image gift card because in a few months, you just might be able to get some cash for it.

Sharper Image, which is now known as TSIC Inc., has petitioned the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware to allow it to pay back gift cardholders nearly three years after it shuttered its operation, The Wall Street Journal reported today. If its request is approved on its May 17 hearing date, TSIC plans to give cash back to any cardholder who has up to $2,245 in gift card value. It also plans to spend $60,000 … Read more

Sex.com sells--for $13 million, that is.

Placed on the auction block in July, the potentially valuable domain name has been scooped up by Clover Holdings from Escom for a cool $13 million. Escom put Sex.com up for sale after declaring bankruptcy earlier this year.

Though it swooped in with the winning bid, Clover can't officially claim ownership until the sale is approved by the bankruptcy court overseeing Escom. This is expected to happen on Wednesday. Not much is known about Sex.com's new owner. BBC News describes it as an obscure company registered on the Caribbean … Read more

Netflix finally knocked off Blockbuster yesterday. Leaders of pay TV services might be wise to start doing the business equivalent of digging foxholes and manning the battlements, or the same thing could happen to them.

There's a growing body of evidence that pay TV services--that is, cable, broadband, and telephone companies that offer films and TV shows--are ripe for a smackdown. Talk of cord-cutters is all over business news and the momentum in home-video distribution appears to be with companies that do it over the Web, such as Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV, and the upcoming Google TV.

Skeptics say … Read more