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Adelphia to Explore Possible Sale of Company
NEW YORK -- Adelphia Communications Corp., the fifth largest cable TV company in the United States, will explore a possible sale of the company as part of a plan of reorganization, officials announced recently.The company intends to determine whether a sale process will deliver greater value to the company's constituencies than the value proposed by the company's original proposed plan of reorganization filed Feb. 25, which currently contemplates Adelphia's emergence from Chapter 11 as an independent entity. As the company pursues this process, management will work with the constituents to establish a fair and open sales process to give effect to the legitimate concerns of all parties.The decision to explore the possible sale of the company as one option in the Chapter 11 process was made yesterday by Adelphia's Board of Directors. Adelphia's management team will vigorously support the sales process and work closely with the Board to fulfill their joint fiduciary responsibilities to maximize value for the various bankruptcy constituents.""We were pursuing a plan of reorganization that called for an independent Adelphia because we believed it was in the best interests of our bankruptcy constituents,"" says Bill Schleyer, chairman and chief executive officer of Adelphia. ""Increasingly, in our continuing dialogue with constituents after filing the plan, it became clear that a broad range of constituents preferred to allow the market to determine the appropriate value for Adelphia. We have from the start worked in the best interests of the bankruptcy constituents and we will continue to do so.""Since Adelphia filed its original proposed Plan of Reorganization on Feb. 25, management continued discussions and met regularly with the bankruptcy constituents in an effort to achieve a consensus for the original plan. ""While we will explore the possible sale with full vigor, we also intend to continue to pursue a plan for an independent company upon emergence,"" Schleyer says. ""We will compare the value created in both approaches and do what is in the best interests of our constituents.""Adelphia will continue to pursue approval of an $8.8 billion exit financing package, which supports the proposed plan for emergence as an independent company.Adelphia's board and management had determined that a variety of factors, including the absence of audited financial statements, the unresolved Securities and Exchange Commission action against the company and the undetermined status of the Rigas family cable properties managed by Adelphia created a sub-optimal environment for exploring the sale of Adelphia. The broad-based insistence, however, by the key bankruptcy constituents on exploring a possible sale of the company has caused directors and management to now pursue a two-track process to find the optimal return for the bankruptcy constituents, Schleyer says.Adelphia Communications serves customers in 30 states and Puerto Rico and offers analog and digital video services, high-speed Internet access and other advanced services over Adelphia's broadband networks. "