Colt

crawler

on ENN today...not good news..

Colt Telecom has said that Highberry Limited, a UK hedge fund, has informed the company it is to begin proceedings that could force Colt into liquidation.

The UK-based hedge fund, which is affiliated with the Elliot Group in the US, has said it intends to petition a UK court to appoint an administrator to Colt Telecom. Highberry owns a large number of Colt corporate bonds and claims that Colt will not be able to repay or refinance its bonds when they become due between 2005 and 2009, thereby justifying the appointment of an administrator.

The UK telecommunications firm appeared to be taken aback by the action, and has strongly denied Highberry's claims, saying the accusations were "without foundation." Defending itself, Colt said it has STG1 billion in cash and no bank debts and expects to be free cash-flow positive during 2005. The company also said its earnings are growing and its capital expenditure requirement is reducing, as the construction of its core network is complete

ando

is there anyone here that could say that they'd miss colt if they went under ?

crawler

probably not on the residential side - they do a good bit on the business side.

Point is it reduces competition if they go , never a good thing for us.

spongebob

I will really miss COLT if they go under ...which is unlikely.

M

Lookout

Regardless of the fact that they only supply to business users. The fact of the matter is that the fixed line market is heading towards a duopoly which is probably worse than the old TE monopoly. Look at the state of the mobile market. O2 and Vodafone are screwing everyone including poor little Meteor, ( god bless them for trying)

crawler

I agree MUCK , unlikely.

Bottom line :- Lack of competition = higher prices , lower customer service & fewer new products.

dahamsta

Bondholder looks to liquidate Colt

Colt Telecom has said that Highberry Limited, a UK hedge fund, has informed the company it is to begin proceedings that could force Colt into liquidation.

The UK-based hedge fund, which is affiliated with the Elliot Group in the US, has said it intends to petition a UK court to appoint an administrator to Colt Telecom. Highberry owns a large number of Colt corporate bonds and claims that Colt will not be able to repay or refinance its bonds when they become due between 2005 and 2009, thereby justifying the appointment of an administrator.

The UK telecommunications firm appeared to be taken aback by the action, and has strongly denied Highberry's claims, saying the accusations were "without foundation." Defending itself, Colt said it has STG1 billion in cash and no bank debts and expects to be free cash-flow positive during 2005. The company also said its earnings are growing and its capital expenditure requirement is reducing, as the construction of its core network is complete.

Chief Executive Steve Akin has said that the business fully expects to be able to repay the corporate bonds by the time they fall due. "The company is in excellent shape," he said.

[...]

Hedge fund that nearly brought down Peru wants COLT dead

A New York-based hedge fund wants to have COLT Telecom wound up. Highberry Ltd has notified the board of the alternative telco carrier that it seeking the appointment of an administrator. It says that COLT will not be able to repay or refinance its bonds
when they become due between 2005 and 2009.

COLT has today issued a statement to the London Stock Exchange, in which it says: "There is no basis whatever for Highberry taking this action."

And also:

"The Board will take whatever steps are required to protect the interests of its stakeholders against this self-serving attempt to force an unjustified transfer of value from shareholders to bondholders."

Here is the COLT's defence against Highberry's accusation.

- Approx. £1 billion of cash, with no bank debt.
- EBITDA is growing and capital expenditure requirement is reducing, as the core network construction is now complete.
- Expects to be free cashflow positive during 2005.
- Confident of ability to repay or refinance it bonds when they fall due.

[...]

The Cigarette Smoking Man

Originally posted by ando
is there anyone here that could say that they'd miss colt if they went under ?

If you get your news from rte.ie you'll miss them...