Mobile satellite services provider Globalstar announced it has completed its financial restructuring and will emerge from bankruptcy following the closing of the acquisition of its main business operations and assets by Thermo Capital Partners L.L.C.
Following the acquisition, which was announced in December, Thermo owns 81.25 percent of a newly formed Globalstar in exchange for an investment of $43 million, with the remainder of the equity to be distributed to the creditors of the original Globalstar L.P.
“Today is unquestionably a major turning point for Globalstar,” said Jim Lynch, managing director of Thermo. “Despite its slow start, Globalstar-now in its fifth year of uninterrupted service-is by far the best positioned, with the best technology, to take advantage of the opportunities in the mobile satellite market, by increasing our attention on Globalstar’s customers and their communication needs.”
Thermo today also announced several new business initiatives and strategies. The company plans to prepare eight spare satellites in storage for launch, possibly in late 2005 or early 2006. Thermo also plans to sign a lease agreement for a new Globalstar gateway in Florida. That gateway, along with a fourth antenna to be added at its Las Palmas, Puerto Rico, gateway, will bolster coverage and capacity in the Caribbean. The company plans to resume product development programs, which will include introducing fax capability later this month, and develop new data services, including a new data compression service to be launched soon. Finally, the company is exploring building a new gateway in Alaska to better serve the state and offshore regions in the North Pacific and Bering Strait.
