Development on Mobilicity sale expected in ‘near term’

Mobilicity, the startup wireless carrier in bankruptcy protection, will have information to share on its efforts to find a buyer in the “near term,” according to a court document filed this week. A report filed Tuesday to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice from Ernst & Young, the court-appointed monitor for Mobilicity, said the company and those assisting in the sales process “have been actively engaged in discussions with a view to selecting a successful bidder, and expect to provide this Court in the near term with a detailed description of the conduct and results of the Sale Procedures. “At present, however, the Monitor does not intend to report further on any aspect of the Sale Process in order to minimize any risk of prejudicing the Sale Process.” A March 12 affidavit from Mobilicity’s chief restructuring officer William Aziz, which was attached to the report, said the 700 MHz spectrum auction held earlier this year affected the sale process. Results for that auction were announced by Industry Canada Feb. 19. “With the 700 Spectrum Auction completed and the results having been made public, the Applicants, their financial advisors Canaccord Genuity and the Monitor are now in a position to complete the Sale Process,” Aziz said. The monitor’s report said Mobilicity is seeking another extension to its creditor protection. The current stay period expires March 31, and this fourth requested extension since the company filed for bankruptcy protection in September would last until April 30. The report said Mobilicity anticipates it will need about $1.7 million in “incremental funding” in the first week of June, and it noted that the company does “not currently have contractual arrangements in place for this projected incremental funding.” The report said an agreement in place for debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing, which it has not accessed yet, expires on April 30. The new court document noted a “major network issue” occurred March 8 that prevented voice communications among all of its customers for about two hours. It said it has asked Amdocs Inc., one of its contractors, for an “explanation of the incident,” and that Amdocs is investigating the matter. Amdocs had been providing Mobilicity with services such as licensed billing, customer care, ordering and operational-support system products. It had asked the court to order payments of about $1.7 million from the wireless provider. A hearing on the dispute with Amdocs is scheduled for April 23. The monitor’s report said Mobilicity’s financial projections do not account for making a payment to Amdocs. — With reporting by Derek Abma at dabma@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Development on Mobilicity sale expected in ‘near term’

News | March 19, 2014

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Development on Mobilicity sale expected in ‘near term’

News | March 19, 2014

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