Charter Gets Closer To ReorganizationChanges executive pay on road to prepackaged bankruptcy plan ( old news - 08:57AM Thursday Jan 15 2009) Tipped by zed260  It may not be a very good year for industry black sheep Charter Communications, who is rumored to be eying bankruptcy and reorganization this year, as the carrier continues to struggle with a huge debt load. The company recently laid off 75 employees, and announced they'd be consolidating its west, east and central divisions into just west and east divisions. Now Charter has reportedly ( MultiChannel News, BizJournals) eliminated its executive cash award plans while modifying other bonus compensation programs, in an effort to retain some key executives: Charter said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday that it had eliminated its Executive Cash Award Plan and as a result made cash awards to several top executives whose interests in the plan were scheduled to vest on Dec. 31, 2009. According to the filing, CEO Neil Smit received $1.2 million, chief operating officer Mike Lovett received $1.2 million, executive vice president and general counsel Grier Raclin received $473,452 and chief financial officer Eloise Schmitz received $386,330. The filing added that the money would have to be returned if any of the executives left the company prior to Dec. 31. The restructuring shouldn't impact most Charter customers, but you may continue to notice Charter selling a few of its networks here and there to other carriers.
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Rick
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| This sounds like something Bernie Made~off with the money would do.
I have no idea whether they'll be filing bk or not but if they do..this will be looked at closely. It would seem that a bankruptcy court judge could reverse it as having been nothing more than a fraudulent conveyance of these company assets that would rightfully have been a part of the bankruptcy estate.
With that said, I still think a wait and see approach is in order as I'm not convinced that they will be filing bk.
This company has long carried the levels of debt that they do without filing. Whether they should is another matter entirely.
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pnh102
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Mount Airy, MD | Re: I don't think retaining these execs is a good idea At least Charter isn't asking for a bailout yet. 
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| | | moonpuppy
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 ·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: I don't think retaining these execs is a good idea said by pnh102 :At least Charter isn't asking for a bailout yet. Key word bolded.
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Ignite
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2 edits | Re: heres another tidbit of info Not making payment on bonds is usual done with creditor knowledge as a precursor to Ch 11 and a debt-equity swap.
The alternative is that Charter are completely and utterly boned, don't have the money to pay them, and didn't get an agreement from their bond holders, in which case they're boned
EDIT: NEW YORK, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Charter Communications Inc's bonds tumbled on Friday after the fourth-largest U.S. cable company said it has engaged Lazard LLC to initiate negotiations with its bondholders, as a means of increasing its financial flexibility.
Looks like not making the interest payment is a precursor to C.11 and the inevitable debt-equity swap, banks will be running out of patience and the company is nearly worth less than its' current debt obligations now:
NEW YORK, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Charter Communications Inc needs to radically overhaul its debt as it struggles with the cost of an increasingly insurmountable burden, and a reorganization of its obligations in bankruptcy is a possibility.
The fourth-largest U.S. cable company said on Friday it has engaged Lazard LLC to initiate negotiations with its bondholders as a means of increasing its financial flexibility. The news sent its bonds plunging, though they have since recovered most of the weakness. Charter (LSE: CHTR.L - news) 's 10.25 percent bond due 2010 dropped more than 8 cents to 30 cents on the dollar, before jumping back to 35 cents on Wednesday, according to MarketAxess. 'The company would not need to negotiate with bondholders if it could pull off another significant debt-for-debt swap, we think,' CreditSights analyst Jake Newman said in a report. 'So, it appears there is more going on under the surface.' Charter has undergone refinancings to extend the maturity of its debt every year since 2004 as it struggles with the cost of carrying a debt load that now stands at around $21 billion. Charter has been increasing revenues and gaining new subscribers, though the company's debt per subscriber has risen to over $4,000. This compares to a possible value of only around $2,400 per subscriber, if the company is valued at similar levels as competitor Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE: TWC - news) , said CreditSights. 'Based on the $2,400 per subscriber valuation, banks are getting close to losing asset cover for their loans,' said CreditSights' Newman. 'If our speculation is true, that would suggest that Charter is finally running out of liquidity rope and needs a major restructuring of its bonds.' Charter's revenues rose 7.3 percent in the third quarter, while net customer additions increased more than 50 percent year over year, the company said in the release. However, 'even at the current revenue growth rate, Charter won't be able to grow into its capital structure,' Gimme Credit analyst Shelly Lombard said in a recent report. 'Charter is surviving by using debt exchanges to push back maturities,' she said. 'At some point Charter will need to restructure or sell a considerable amount of assets to avoid bankruptcy.' | |
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AMDUSER
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Earth
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| Re: heres another tidbit of info It looks like Chapter 11 is just around the corner for Charter.. »www.businesswire.com/portal/site···sLang=en
Charter has not made intrest payments due January 15,2009. They have until Febuary 15th to make the payments or default will occur. (If they file, Paul Allens special class stock will be wiped out and he will not have control of the company anymore.)
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| | | | zed260
join:2007-09-30
Cleveland, TN
·Charter Pipeline
1 edit | Re: heres another tidbit of info »www.earthtimes.org/articles/show···54.shtml
filch downgraded charters debt again
also as a side note so many different debts and lians on charter that i dont think charter can easily nagtatie them all since they are owned by different ppl
some who would want charter to split up others who wouyld want charter to stay in one piece its gonna be a mess | |
| | | | | | | | | | | zed260
join:2007-09-30
Cleveland, TN | Re: heres another tidbit of info charters debt is owned by tons of diffrent ppl many im sure would want diffren things from charter | |
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iFractal
What?...ever
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join:2002-12-04
| Change Company Name, Stir and Repeat Huge debt, huge bonuses, employees laid off and we all keep getting huge increases on our bills. It is time for all companies to go back to school and take Accounting 101 again…and I do not mean Creative Accounting 101.
Notice to all companies and governments: I do not have any money left to “give” you. 
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I don't think retaining these execs is a good idea
