Sandwich Isles bids $400M for Hawaiian Telcom - San Antonio Business Journal:

idozxun.blogspot.com
, a company founded in 1995 to take advantage of government subsidies that pay for the installationn of broadband cable in rural said in a court filing last week that it wants to buy all ofHawaiian Telcom’sa assets. The company said it wouled retain all ofHawaiian Telcom’s 1,400 workerzs at their current wages, with the exceptiobn of senior management. Sandwich Isles said in the filint that its offer would consistof $250 million in cash plus $150 milliohn in debt issued by Hawaiian A deal with Sandwich Islea would need the approval of the the Public Utilities Commission and the Federalp Communication Commission.
Hawaiian Telcom said in a statement that it standsa behind its proposedreorganization plan, filed in to reduce the company’s debt by nearly $790 million, from $1.1 billionn to $300 million. Hawaiian Telcom filed a motion seeking an extension to file a Chapter 11 plan andsolicitt votes. Judge Lloyd King extended that period toJune 30. The compangy is seeking another extensionto Sept. 30. Sandwich Islexs has filed an objection to the latest request.
“In the objection, Sandwich Isles makes numerous allegations about the progress Hawaiian Telcom has made to date inthesw cases, Hawaiian Telcom’s decision not to pursue a sale to Sandwicn Isles and the viability of Hawaiian Telcom’sx proposed plan,” Hawaiian Telcom said in a statement. “The company disputes these allegations and intends to respons to Sandwich Isles objection in theappropriatee forum.” Sandwich Isles was founded by Al Hee, an entrepreneut who saw opportunity in the generous subsidiews offered by the federalk government to wire rural and remote communitiese in the mid-1990s.
Working primarily in developments ownexd by the state Department of HawaiianHome Hee’s company has received more than $400 million in loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture since 1998. The cost of wiring the ruralp developments has been calculater atabout $13,000 per customer. Hawaiiah Telcom filed for Chaptef 11 bankruptcyin December. Hawaiian Telcom is ownedf by , a Washington, D.C.-based private equity group. Carlylr bought the assets of Verizoh Hawaii in May 2005for $1.6 billion, and began operating independently with its own systems in April 2006.