MOTION FOR ENTRY OF ORDER UNDER 11 U.S.C. § 1121(d) EXTENDING THE

Source document: MOTION FOR ENTRY OF ORDER UNDER 11 U.S.C. § 1121(d) EXTENDING THE; issuer: U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of West Virginia.

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UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA
In re:

PANTHERA ENTERPRISES, LLC,

Case No. 2:19-787

Chapter 11

Debtor-in-possession.

MOTION FOR ENTRY OF ORDER UNDER 11 U.S.C. § 1121(d) EXTENDING THE
EXCLUSIVITY PERIOD FOR FILING AND CONFIRMING A PLAN OF
REORGANIZATION AND DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

PANTHERA ENTERPRISES, LLC (the “Debtor”) by and through its undersigned
counsel, Bernstein-Burkley, P.C, hereby files this Motion for Entry of Order Under 11 U.S.C. §
1121(d) Extending the Exclusivity Periods for Filing and Confirming a Plan of Reorganization
and Disclosure Statement (the “Motion”) and in support thereof states as follows:
JURISDICTION AND VENUE
1. The Court (hereinafter defined) has jurisdiction to consider this Motion under 28 U.S.C.
§§ 157 and 1334. This is a core proceeding under 28 U.S.C. § 157(b).
2. Venue of this case and this Motion in this district is proper under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1408 and
1409.
3. On September 13, 2019, the Plaintiff filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11
of Title 11 of the United States Code, 11 U.S.C. §§ 101 et seq. (as amended, the “Bankruptcy
Code”) of the Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District
of West Virginia (the “Court”) at case number 19-00787 (the “Case”).
4. The Plaintiff owns the real property located at 2506 Fishpond Road, Old Fields, West
Virginia 26845 (the “Real Property”), including the improvements, structures and various
personal property situated on such real property (collectively, the “Property”), all of which is
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utilized as a special operations training facility for various of the Plaintiff’s clients and customers
(the “Facility”).
5. On October 17, 2019, the Debtor filed an adversary proceeding in the Case (the
“Adversary Proceeding”) seeking the turnover of the Property from the alleged tenant, Panthera
Training, LLC (“Training”).
6. Since the filing of the Adversary Proceeding, the Adversary Proceeding has been very
active and the Court has held numerous hearings and required various briefings in the Adversary
Proceeding. Notably, the Court has held two full days of evidentiary hearings on the issue of
whether to grant certain preliminary injunctions.
7. During the ongoing Adversary Proceeding, the Debtor has also been required to reply to
two (2) motions filed in the Case by the West Virginia Economic Development Authority (the
“EDA”), one motion seeking conversion or dismissal of the case (the “Dismissal Motion”) and
one motion seeking relief from the automatic stay (the “Relief from Stay Motion”).
8. During the first several of months of this case, the majority of the Debtor’s time and
efforts have been predominantly occupied by litigation with Training and the EDA.
9. The preliminary injunctive relief requests between the Debtor and Training have been
resolved by Court Orders and the Debtor and Training have since entered into several interim
agreements to allow and provide for all scheduled trainings to be conducted at the Property and
for Training to be paid for such performance.  Most recently, the Debtor and Training reached
agreement regarding all federal government training to be conducted at the Facility during
January, 2020.
10. On December 27, 2019, the Court denied the EDA’s Dismissal Motion and, on January 9,
2020, the EDA withdrew its Relief from Stay Motion.
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11. The deadline for alleged creditors of the Debtor (aside from governmental entities) to file
a proof of claim for prepetition claims against the Debtor has been set for January 16, 2020 (the
“Bar Date”)
RELIEF REQUESTED
12. Section 1121(b) of the Bankruptcy Code provides that “only the debtor may file a plan
until 120 days after the date of the order for relief under this chapter.” 11 U.S.C. § 1121(b). The
exclusivity period to file a plan in this case is set to expire on January 13, 2020 (the “Filing
Exclusivity Period”) and the Debtor has filed this Motion within this time period.
13. Further, under § 1121(c)(3), a debtor has an exclusive period of 180 days after the date of
the order for relief under this chapter to have a plan accepted “by each class of claims or interests
that is impaired under the plan.” 11 U.S.C. § 1121(c)(3). This period is set to expire on March
11, 2020 (the “Acceptance Exclusivity Period”, and collectively with the Filing Exclusivity
Period, the “Exclusivity Periods”).
14. During the Exclusivity Periods, no creditor or other party in interest may file a plan of
reorganization. The purpose of this Exclusivity Period is to give debtors a reasonable time to
obtain confirmation of a plan without the threat of a competing plan. See, e.g. In re Mother
Hubbard, 152 B.R. 189 (Bankr. W.D. Mich. 1993).
15. Such time period of exclusivity may be extended pursuant to § 1121(d)(1): “Subject to
paragraph (2), on request of a party in interest made within the respective periods specified in
subsections (b) and (c) of this section and after notice and a hearing, the court may for cause
reduce or increase the 120-day period or the 180-day period as referred to in this section.” 11
U.S.C. § 1121(d)(1).
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16. Debtor’s instant request for an extension of the Exclusivity Periods is within the time
limits established by § 1121(d)(2)(A).
17. The Debtor bears the burden of proving that “sufficient cause exists to justify an
extension of the exclusivity period” and “the court is granted broad discretion to determine what
is sufficient cause in each individual case.” In re Sharon Steel Corp., 78 B.R. 762, 765 (Bankr.
W.D. Pa. 1987). See also, In re Central Jersey Airport Services, LLC, 282 B.R. 176, 184 (Bankr.
D. N.J. 2002).
18. By this Motion, the Debtor requests an extension of the Exclusivity Periods for an
additional sixty (60) days to March 13, 2020 for the filing Exclusivity Period and May 10, 2020
for the Acceptance Exclusivity Period.
19. This is Debtor’s first request for an extension of the Exclusivity Periods.
20. The Debtor maintains that sufficient cause exists for an extension of the Exclusivity
Periods.
21. The extension of Exclusivity Periods will allow the Bar Date to pass providing the Debtor
with the ability to assess all creditors in this case and generate an inclusive plan addressing all
claims.
22. The Debtor’s creditors will not be prejudiced by the requested extension and, in fact, will
be best served by an extension of the Exclusivity Periods past the Bar Date.
23. The Debtor continues to work in good faith with its creditors, specifically Training, and
remains focused on facilitating a successful reorganization.
24. As noted above, the majority of the Debtor’s time and resources were occupied by
disputes that have now, to substantial degree, been either addressed by the Court preliminarily,
resolved in full, or which continue to be addressed via interim agreements with Training.  As a
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result, the Debtor now has greater ability to focus on its reorganization efforts.  The Debtor
asserts that the additional time requested herein is both necessary and warranted under the
circumstances.
25. While the Debtor intends to comply with the process of obtaining confirmation of the
Plan within the extended Exclusivity Periods, this request is without prejudice to request any
additional extensions of time should circumstances arise that make such an extension necessary
and appropriate.
WHEREFORE, the Debtor respectfully requests that this Honorable Court enter an Order (i)
granting this Motion for Entry of Order Under 11 U.S.C. § 1121(d) Extending the Exclusivity
Periods for Filing and Confirming a Plan of Reorganization and Disclosure Statement, (ii)
extending the Debtor’s exclusive time to file a plan to March 13, 2020, (iii) extending the
Debtors’ exclusive time to obtain acceptance of a plan to May 10, 2020, and (iv) granting such
other relief as this court deems just and appropriate.
Respectfully submitted:
Date: January 10, 2020

BERNSTEIN-BURKLEY, P.C.

By: /s/ John J. Richardson

John J. Richardson, Esq.

WV ID: 13140

jrichardson@bernsteinlaw.com
Mark A. Lindsay, Esq.

PA ID: 89487

Admitted Pro Hac Vice
mlindsay@bernsteinlaw.com
707 Grant Street, Ste. 2200

Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Phone: (412) 456-8100

Fax: (412) 456-8135

Counsel for Debtor

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I, the undersigned, hereby certify that the within Motion to Extend Exclusivity Period was served
via the CM/ECF system upon all parties and counsel of record on this 10th day of January, 2020.
Respectfully submitted:
Date: January 10, 2020

BERNSTEIN-BURKLEY, P.C.

By: /s/ John J. Richardson

John J. Richardson, Esq.

WV ID: 13140

jrichardson@bernsteinlaw.com
707 Grant Street, Ste. 2200

Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Phone: (412) 456-8101

Fax: (412) 456-8135

Counsel for Debtor

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