UPC pursues bankruptcy, new system
Move part of cabler's restructuring plan
However, company prexy-CEO John Riordan said it would be "business as usual" at UPC subsidiaries.
The filing is part of restructuring for the cabler, which has been teetering on the brink of bankruptcy for more than a year.
Under the plan, UPC would be relieved of 65% of its debt and receive 100 million euros ($99.8 million) from UGC, in which John Malone's Liberty Media holds a 76% stake.
UPC spent close to $10.8 billion creating a pan-European cable system that offered combined cable TV, telephony and broadband Internet service. But it was nearly crushed under a huge debt caused by heavy investment in upgrades and an acquisition spending spree that gobbled up cable properties across Europe.
By August of last year, the company had posted its worst profit report ever, chairman Mark Schneider resigned, and the hard launch of its digital rollout was delayed. When that finally lifted off, it was so soft it bordered on obscurity.
Under the restructure, a U.S. company called New UPC will become UPC's holding company. Riordan said service to customers will continue, and a voluntary moratorium in Holland and Chapter 11 proceedings in the U.S. will apply only to UPC NV (the current holding company) "and will have no material impact on the day-to-day business of UPC's subsidiaries."
In the restructure deal between UGC and a committee of bondholders, $7.5 billion in bonds and convertible preference shares will be traded for new equity.
