Opinion of the Court
Notice: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the preliminary print of the United States Reports. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order that corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press.
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
No. 21–1270
MOAC MALL HOLDINGS LLC, PETITIONER v. TRANSFORM HOLDCO LLC, ET AL.
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT
[April 19, 2023]
Justice Jackson delivered the opinion of the Court.
Under conditions prescribed by Congress, the Bankruptcy Code permits a debtor (or a trustee) to sell or lease the bankruptcy estate’s property outside of the ordinary course of the bankrupt entity’s business. 11 U. S. C. §363(b). Interested parties may file an objection to such a sale or lease, and may appeal if the court authorizes a sale or lease of the estate’s property over their objection. But §363(m) restricts the effect of such an appeal, if successful.
Specifically, §363(m) states that
“[t]he reversal or modification on appeal of an authorization under [§363(b) or §363(c)] of a sale or lease of property does not affect the validity of a sale or lease under such authorization to an entity that purchased or leased such property in good faith, whether or not such entity knew of the pendency of the appeal, unless such authorization and such sale or lease were stayed pending appeal.”
Accordingly, sometimes, a successful appeal of a judicial authorization to sell or lease estate property will not impugn
