Paul Allen's Charter Communications filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today, the latest blow to the Microsoft co-founder's diverse portfolio of real estate, sports team and technology company holdings. In a press release, the fourth largest cable company said that the financial restructuring would reduce its debt load by about $8 billion.
At the end of last year, Charter had $21.7 billion in debt. AP reported that holders of $8 billion of that debt exchanged it for almost full ownership, noting that Charter would still have $13 billion in bank debts after the bankruptcy.
"The financial restructuring is good news for Charter and our customers and, if approved, will result in Charter being better positioned to deliver the products and services our customers demand now and in the future," said Charter CEO Neil Smit in the statement. "The support of our bondholders and their new investment in Charter also underscores their confidence in our company and business."
The company has enough cash on the books to run the business and will not seek "debtor-in-possession" financing. It also said that it will continue to support employees, customers and vendors through the bankruptcy process.
Allen and the company's bondholder committee support the pre-arranged bankruptcy plan, according to the release.
READ MORE and COMMENT
No comments:
Post a Comment