This one is an FYI about the IMS bankruptcy for those who are interested...
In trying to get more information about what's going, I've made a few phone calls and got the following information:
- IMS filed for bankruptcy in the US Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Texas on 2 March 98 and was assigned case #98-10782.
- Telephone number of the US bankruptcy clerk is 512-916-5237.
- The trustee from the US Trustee's Office overseeing the case is Frank Lavin (512-916-5328).
- The trustee disclosed that Phil Neches' IPIQ company has established a $1 million line of credit to IMS. Terms of whether it was secured (with what?) or unsecured were not disclosed. An interesting comment he mentioned: the company "seems to be spending a lot of cash". I wonder if it is to the vendors/creditors, to themselves, or both? I thought there was suppose to be a pecking order in paying back the creditors.
- The trustee disclosed that IMS has 120 days after filing for bankruptcy to file a reorganization plan. That plan has yet to be filed. Upon filing, all creditors vote to accept or reject the plan. What happens if IMS chooses on the 119th day to not file a plan?
- The trustee disclosed that Eric Taub (512-472-5997) is IMS' legal counsel w.r.t. this bankruptcy proceedings.
- I spoke to IMS' counsel. Eric Taub was cordial but didn't enhance the knowledge pool as to the who/what/where/when/how IMS will re-emerge out of Chapter 11. It sounds like he is under a "quiet period" about disclosing meaningful information.
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From lunches, dinners, and coffees with various people with VC ties, the buzz seems to be that Phil has raised ~$5M of VC funding to do an x86 project. I couldn't find out who the money was for (IPIQ or IMS?) nor from whom. I wonder if there is a new and improved Meta 6000 II emerging from the midst of all this? If so, who owns it? IPIQ or IMS? This jives with local head hunters talking about IMS trying to recruit roughly 20 engineers (including a chief architect familiar with x86)! This also jives with the trustee's comment about the company spending a lot of cash (for sign-on bonuses, retention bonuses, forgive-able loans, placement fees, etc. ???).
From my observation of how businesses usually deal with down-turn in revenues/profits, they usually slash costs and programs. Look at the recent layoff announcements by Intel and National Semiconductor. The further expansion of a company when it cannot even sustain its current situation points to an unusual business strategy. Can any seasoned businessman explain this?
Larry |
