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LightSquared Creditors Working on Consensual Restructuring

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LightSquared Inc. and its various creditors are in talks to devise a consensual plan to restructure the wireless company's assets and end its bankruptcy, Reuters reported on Friday. LightSquared, owned by Phil Falcone's Harbinger Capital Partners, is trying to bridge disagreements among proponents of three separate reorganization proposals currently on the table, according to Paul Basta, a lawyer for a special committee overseeing the company's restructuring. The talks so far do not include representatives for Dish Network Corp Chairman Charles Ergen, whose debt holdings make him LightSquared's largest single creditor. LightSquared has accused Ergen of surreptitiously buying the debt to effect a takeover of LightSquared by Dish, a key competitor. A trial on that dispute remains ongoing.

U.S. Trustee Targets Personal Communications CEO Proposal

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U.S. Trustee William Harrington is protesting a potential $2.7 million bonus for Personal Communications Devices LLC Chief Executive George Appling, arguing that lawyers haven't proven that he worked hard enough to earn that bonus before the mobile phone distributor was sold in bankruptcy last fall, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Harrington said in court papers that the proposed bonus for Appling, who remained CEO after the sale, wasn't designed to encourage him to work harder during the company's search for buyers who could purchase the company out of bankruptcy.

LightSquared Gets Loan Offers From Fortress and Ergen Entity

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Philip Falcone’s LightSquared Inc., seeking to reorganize in bankruptcy, received loan offers from a fund owned by Fortress Investment Group LLC and an entity linked to the wireless-network company’s one-time suitor, Dish Network Corp. Chairman Charlie Ergen, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The loan proposals are superior to one from a group of LightSquared’s lenders, Fortress Credit Investments and Ergen’s SP Special Opportunities LLC said in papers filed on Jan. 24. Their arguments are to be considered at a Jan. 31 hearing.

Hybrid Tech Seeks Emergency Appeal of Fisker Auction Ruling

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A takeover vehicle associated with Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li yesterday mounted an emergency appeal attacking a bankruptcy-court decision that put Fisker Automotive Inc. on the auction block, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Li's acquisition vehicle, Hybrid Tech Holdings LLC, is due to face off Feb. 12 against an affiliate of China's Wanxiang Group in a chapter 11 auction duel for the assets of Fisker, a failed luxury hybrid car maker.

Ergen Hedge Funds Fighting over LightSquared Loan

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Dish Network Corp. Chairman Charlie Ergen is again fighting with a group of hedge funds that hold LightSquared's bank debt, this time over which side should be providing a short-term bankruptcy loan to keep LightSquared afloat, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. In a court filing on Thursday, lawyers for Ergen's SPSO Special Opportunities investment vehicle said the $33 million loan offer from the hedge funds to keep LightSquared afloat through April 15 is "inferior" to theirs. Ergen's loan, his lawyers said, "is not a coercive financing designed to benefit select parties in interest rather than the estate as a whole." After months of being on the same side in LightSquared's bankruptcy case, Ergen and the ad hoc group of hedge funds have been adversaries since Dish withdrew its $2.2 billion bid for LightSquared's spectrum assets earlier this month. The hedge funds, which like Ergen own LightSquared's bank debt, had filed a restructuring proposal for LightSquared based on the bid trying to force Dish into making the deal. However, a judge turned them down earlier last week, saying Dish properly abandoned its offer.

Xtreme Power Files for Bankruptcy

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Battery startup Xtreme Power based in Lyle, Texas, filed for chapter 11 protection on Thursday, GreenTechMedia.com reported today. Xtreme plans to “continue its operations at all locations as it begins a process to identify an acquirer,” according to the company, with general creditors providing financing. The company's core engineering, project development and operations staff will remain in place during this process. CEO Alan Gotcher stated that the bankruptcy filing has been “structured to allow one of the company's creditors to file a stalking-horse bid” if competing bids don't emerge by the end of February. He added that Xtreme has a pipeline of business in excess of $100 million and letters of intent for another $65 million of new business, and projects earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization would reach break-even later this year.

LightSquareds Bankruptcy Plan May Lack 2014 FCC Approval

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LightSquared Inc.’s plan to exit from bankruptcy may not be approved by the Federal Communications Commission by the end of the year, the agency said in a court filing, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The FCC said in a Jan. 17 filing that it is not in a position to confirm whether it will be able to complete the work required to approve the plan by Dec. 31. LightSquared, controlled by Philip Falcone’s Harbinger Capital Partners LLC, is seeking to exit bankruptcy through a plan supported by Fortress Investment Group LLC, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Melody Capital Advisors LLC. The FCC also said that it plans to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking to address the use of wireless spectrum by another federal stakeholder, a development that a Wells Fargo analyst, Marci Ryvicker, said amounts to “cold water” being thrown on the Fortress-supported plan, as it might take more than a year.

Plextronics Files for Chapter 11

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Plextronics, the venture-backed Pittsburgh company that is developing electronic inks designed for use in organic LED televisions and lighting applications, has filed chapter 11 protection, Optics.org reported yesterday. Despite the bankruptcy application, Plextronics said that it had filed a series of customary motions to ensure the continuation of normal operations during the process, and stressed that its “Plexcore” products would remain available. According to the company’s most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which dates from October 2013, Plextronics had been seeking to raise $5 million in debt-based securities. But at the time of that filing, only $572,000 had been raised. In its chapter 11 petition filed on Jan. 16, the company estimated that it had liabilities of between $10 million and $50 million.

Dish Says It Properly Abandoned LightSquared Bid

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Dish Network Corp. said a plan to restructure LightSquared based on its now-withdrawn offer for the company's assets should be considered completely off the table despite the efforts of hedge funds to keep it alive, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Dish's filing in bankruptcy court on Thursday comes as LightSquared continues arguing at a trial that Dish Chairman Charles Ergen improperly bought LightSquared's bank debt — the same class of debt owned by the hedge funds — on behalf of Dish. As a LightSquared competitor, Dish is prohibited from buying that debt.

Toshiba Wins Approval to Take Over OCZ for 35 Million

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OCZ Technology Group Inc. won court approval yesterday to sell its assets to Toshiba Corp. in a $35 million deal that preserves jobs but that likely means a slim recovery for creditors, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Peter Walsh signed off on the sale of the solid-state drive technology company, which arrived in bankruptcy late last year without the money to cover payroll.