DISTRESSED DAILY: At Last, Mallinckrodt Nears Bankruptcy Liftoff

Mallinckrodt Plc., the giant drugmaker pushed into bankruptcy by opioid lawsuits, is very close to exiting Chapter 11 protection. It has been a long time coming.

Reports that Mallinckrodt was exploring a restructuring stretch back to at least 2019, though the company finally landed in bankruptcy in late 2020. The drugmaker had already spent $100 million fighting opioid lawsuits at the time. Chief Transformation Officer Stephen Welch said at the time that fighting them all in court would’ve been “ruinous in fairly short order.”

Instead of litigating itself to death, Mallinckrodt has managed to jettison those opioid liabilities ...