GT Advanced Technologies Inc. said a bankruptcy court settlement with Apple Inc. will survive a judge’s order that documents describing the companies’ relationship must be made public, Bloomberg News reported today. GT Advanced, the maker of synthetic sapphire used in smartphone screens, filed under chapter 11 last month, less than a year after announcing a supply agreement with Apple. The case has been shrouded in secrecy, and the settlement was originally conditioned on keeping a statement by a GT Advanced executive under court seal. Bankruptcy Judge Henry Boroff put the deal in peril last week, saying that such secrecy was unnecessary, and yesterday ordered the statement and other materials unsealed. At the same time, Apple and GT Advanced said that they had revised the terms of their settlement to make sealing unnecessary. In November 2013, GT Advanced said that it had lined up $578 million in prepayment loans from Apple to buy equipment to make sapphire, which wasn’t included in the latest version of the iPhone. On Oct. 6, Merrimack, N.H.-based company filed for creditor protection, citing “burdensome” contracts with Apple and saying that it might be penalized $50 million per violation for breaking confidentiality agreements with the iPhone maker.
