Adelphia looking for help to sell company
June 15, 2004
By Chitra Somayaji and Allan Dodds
Bloomberg
Adelphia Communications Corp. is working to hire investment bankers to help the bankrupt U.S. cable-television operator arrange a potential sale of the company, President and Chief Operating Officer Ron Cooper said.
"We're in the process of engaging investment banking counsel," Cooper, 47, said in a televised interview in New York.
"I hope we can bring that to closure shortly." He declined to name the investment banks the fifth-largest cable-television operator is considering.
Adelphia filed for bankruptcy in June 2002 after founder John Rigas and his two sons, Michael and Timothy, ran up more than $18 billion in debt and hid about $3 billion in personal loans. In April, the company said it may seek a buyer after creditors and bondholders voiced opposition to a reorganization plan that would allow it to stay independent.
"We are continuing to pursue a stand-alone emergence plan," Cooper said. "So there's no certainty as to the outcome, whether it emerges as a stand alone company or it's sold." Larger cable-TV operators Comcast Corp., Time Warner Inc. and Cox Communications Inc. have said they may consider buying Adelphia's assets.
Adelphia's cable systems, which have about 5.3 million customers in 30 states and Puerto Rico, aren't as attractive as that of the AT&T Broadband cable systems that Comcast acquired in November 2002, Cox Chief Executive Jim Robbins said earlier this month. Cox prefers systems that are "clustered" or connect a larger number of homes in each area, he said.
"The Adelphia assets are a very different kettle of fish," Robbins told investors at a conference in New York. "There are some we would be interested in at the right price, there are others that we don't want." Cox may consider being part of a group of companies that jointly bid and acquire Adelphia, Robbins said.
As Adelphia prepares for an auction of its assets, it is upgrading cable systems to offer new services such as high- definition television, digital video recorders and telephone service to stem the loss of subscribers to Rupert Murdoch's satellite-TV operator, DirecTV Group Inc.
"We are focused on strengthening Adelphia's competitive position," Cooper said. "The company was woefully behind its industry peers in network upgrade." John, Michael and Timothy Rigas and a fourth Adelphia executive are on trial for allegedly stealing $100 million from the company and lying about revenue and operations.
Adelphia will restate financial results for 1999, 2000 and 2001 by the end of this year, Cooper said. The company will also for the first time provide financial statements for 2002 and 2003.
Shares of the Greenwood Village, Colorado-based company fell 2 cents to 49 cents at 10:44 a.m. New York time in over-the- counter trading. |
