The Next 17 Big Companies That Are At Risk Of Bankruptcy

BusinessInsider writes: Lots of iconic brands have filed for bankruptcy recently. Some blamed weak consumer demand, others pointed to rising commodity costs and pension demands. In any case, you can count on many more companies to follow suit. GovernanceMetric's International provided us with a list of companies with the greatest probability of financial distress.

In any case we picked out some of our favs...…

Caesars Entertainment
Financial distress probability: 7.28%; Total assets: $28.9 billion; Founded: 1937. Caesars Entertainment is the world's largest casino entertainment company.

Clearwire (CLWR)
Financial distress probability: 9.54%; Total assets: $8.8 billion; Founded: 2003
Clearwire, a wireless internet service provider, has seen its stock gain 40% since October when investors feared that the company would default on its debt, reported Reuters. In December, Sprint provided the company with a lifeline by agreeing to pay $1.6 billion to Clearwire in the next four years. .

Republic Airway Holdings (RJET)
Financial distress probability: 11.12%; Total assets: $4.2 billion; Founded: 1973
Republic Airways Holdings is an Indiana company that owns Chautauqua Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Republic Airlines and Shuttle America. At the moment, Republic Airways is trying to sell off its troubled asset Frontier, reported Reuters.

Tennessee Valley Authority
Financial distress probability: 11.82%; Total assets: $46.39 billion; Founded: 1933
Tennessee Valley Authority, which provides electricity to nine million people in the southeast, needs funds for future projects but cannot afford to take on more dept as its debt ceiling is controlled by the congress. In order to raise funds, TVA has leased the John Sevier Combined Cycle Plant to a group of investors for 30 years at a price of $1 billion, reported Electric Co-op Today…

Office Depot (ODP)
Financial distress probability: 11.90%; Total assets: $4.2 billion; Founded: 1986
Office Depot is a global supplier of office products and services.

Barnes & Noble (BKS)
Financial distress probability: 12.05%; Total assets: $4.1 billion; Founded: 1873
Barnes and Noble saw a drop in its stock earlier this month when the company lowered guidance and announced that the company is considering spinning out the Nook business. The simple reason why Barnes and Noble made it while Borders went belly up is the company's investment in Nook and online sales. But can Nook compete with Amazon's Kindle?

Find out the rest at http://www.businessinsider.com/the-next-17-big-companies-that-are-at-risk-of-bankruptcy-2012-1