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Court Approves ICO Refunding Plan For ICO
London - December 3, 1999 - ICO said Friday the US Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, has granted final approval to the company's $500 million in financing by a group of international investors led by telecommunications pioneer Craig McCaw.In a related development, Mr McCaw and Indian media entrepreneur Subhash Chandra have joined together in a bid to provide the new financing required by ICO. Mr McCaw and Mr Chandra have committed to provide up to 62 percent and 38 percent, respectively, of the equity funding required for ICO to exit from bankruptcy. "These two entrepreneurs share a common vision of the benefits that ICO can bring to the world," said ICO Chief Executive Officer Richard Greco. "Both Craig McCaw and Subhash Chandra contribute tremendous strengths to the ICO effort in their respective parts of the world." The court's decision ratifies an agreement reached on October 31, 1999, by which it was decided that Mr McCaw and his affiliated companies, Teledesic LLC and Eagle River Investments LLC, would lead a group of existing ICO investors to provide $225 million in debtor-in-possession financing as well as $275 million in a second financing round expected to be completed by the end of January 2000. On November 9, the court approved $150 million in interim debtor-in-possession financing led by Mr McCaw and his affiliated companies. The balance of the first tranche of $225 million and the second tranche of $275 million has now been approved. In the October 31 agreement, McCaw and his affiliates also agreed to commit up to an additional $700 million for exit financing, to the extent that this financing is not provided by other investors. The refinancing is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2000, upon court approval and consummation of the ICO reorganisation plan. This portion of the financing plan will be open to participation by ICO's existing creditors and shareholders. The total investment of $1.2 billion will enable ICO to complete the currently planned build-out of its system and will provide working capital to the company up to the launch of its global mobile satellite services in the second quarter of 2001. Greco expressed his satisfaction at the progress toward completion of ICO's financing needs. "The court's decision is another important step forward for us. We are delighted that Craig McCaw's proposals have been accepted by the court, and we will now get on with the business of making ICO a commercial success." Certain of the matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, financial, technical, regulatory, operating, competitive and market risks, risks relating to ICO being a development-stage company, and other risks and uncertainties. These are detailed in ICO's documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Background Notes Of Interest Craig McCaw is chairman of Teledesic LLC, which is building a global broadband Internet-in-the-Sky satellite communications network. Mr McCaw and Microsoft founder Bill Gates are the company's two primary founding investors. Strategic investors also include Motorola, Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and The Boeing Company. Teledesic (pronounced "tel-eh-DEH-sic") is a private company based in Bellevue, Washington, a suburb of Seattle. Subhash Chandra is chairman of Essel Group, a leading Indian conglomerate. Essel's flagship company, Zee Telefilms Ltd, is India's leading private producer and multi-channel broadcaster of television programming. Zee's popular programming is also distributed throughout Asia as well as into Africa, Europe and the United States. In total, over 150 million households currently view Zee's programming. Mr Chandra is also chairman of ASC Enterprises Ltd, which has been developing Agrani, a regional multi-mission geostationary satellite system.
CONSTELLATIONS
Constellation Industry Reports at SpaceDaily
  Nov 02, 2006
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Chesterfield - November 5, 1999 - Satellites will extend the Internet to every point on the Earth's surface -- but only after operators end their obsession with telephony services. That is one of the conclusions of the new 200-page study, Satellites in Cyberspace: Opportunities for Internet-based Satellite Ventures, announced today by Datacomm Research Company and Farrar & Associates.