Court confirms Big Apple Circus liquidation plan
The court confirmed TBAC Wind Down, Ltd.’s Chapter 11 liquidation plan on Dec. 18, 2017, after a Dec. 12 confirmation hearing, unanimous acceptance from voting creditors, and resolved or withdrawn confirmation objections. The order locks in a four-class structure: secured claims, priority non-tax claims, and deposit claims were unimpaired, while general unsecured claims were impaired and entitled to vote. The Creditors’ Committee supported the plan, and the Plan Administrator now controls the estate wind-down, distributions, settlements, and remaining case administration source filing source filing.
The case began Nov. 20, 2016, when the nonprofit circus entered Chapter 11 after canceling its 2016-17 season. Executive Director Will Maitland Weiss described a cultural institution founded in 1977, with Lincoln Center performance rights, a Walden, N.Y. training/storage property, more than 100 performers and staff, and community programs including Clown Care and Circus of the Senses. At filing, the debtor estimated roughly $3.8 million of assets against $8.3 million of liabilities, including about $3.2 million of accounts payable and $2.56 million of non-endowment debt. The confirmed plan was funded by asset sales, including the $2.5 million Walden property sale and $1.3 million sale of circus equipment and intellectual property, with general unsecured creditors projected to recover 15%-18% from about $1.69 million of available assets source filing source filing.
