[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: [Swprograms] Worldspace files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
>From Radiomagonline.com today comes this news, just as some of us predicted
(anyone want to bid?):
World Space Up for Bid
The world's first satellite radio firm, currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, will
be sold to the highest bidder on Jan. 26. Washington, DC-based World Space is
scheduled for a bankruptcy court-ordered auction just ahead of a key
debtor-in-possession (DIP) loan due date on Jan. 29.
World Space has been operating under debtor-in-possession provisions since last
fall. Although it maintains some programming via a South Africa uplink, much of
its operation has been curtailed and much of its former staff has since been
laid off.
>From a business standpoint, the auction couldn't come at a worse time. Both the
U.S. and European Union are experiencing economic contraction and the commercial
credit markets are extremely tight. Compounding the problem is the fact that
satellite radio has yet to yield a profit.
World Space maintains possession of its satellites and ground station assets,
along with licenses for L-band spectrum in Italy and Germany.
--
-Rob de Santos
-----Original Message-----
From: Rob de Santos [mailto:rdesantos@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2008 9:28 PM
To: 'Shortwave programming discussion'
Subject: Re: [Swprograms] Worldspace files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
I concur with you, John. Some of this was expected but they are in a desperate
situation. Even if, by some miracle, they become significantly profitable, the
debt situation and the nearly worthless stock mean they can only survive with
either a huge cash infusion by some knight in "green" armor or by going the
bankruptcy route and hoping to buy time.
Sadly the huge money paid to talent plus the debt incurred by building and
launching satellites meant they had a short window to become profitable. With
the current bank situation they have seen that window begin to slam shut.
So, if you have a few tens of millions (and that will be all it will take) you
will be able to do what the current owners of Iridium did... buy the SiriusXM
company in bankruptcy for a song and then make it profitable. Worldspace will
come even cheaper.
--
-Rob de Santos
_______________________________________________
Swprograms mailing list
Swprograms@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/swprograms
To unsubscribe: Send an E-mail to swprograms-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe, or visit the URL shown above.