Arinc lines up buy out bankrupt Impeva

The auction of the assets of bankrupt global tracking and RFID services company Impeva Labs will take place on May 4 after Arinc, the aerospace communications company owned by Carlyle, provided it with debtor-in-possession financing.
Impeva filed for…

The auction of the assets of bankrupt global tracking and RFID services company Impeva Labs will take place on May 4 after Arinc, the aerospace communications company owned by Carlyle, provided it with debtor-in-possession financing.

Impeva filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 1 with the bankruptcy court approving on an interim basis a DIP loan of up to US$1.2m from Arinc. The debt will be used to support normal operations, product development and device production through to the sale of the business.

Under the court-approved bid procedures, Arinc has been approved as the stalking horse with its offer to acquire the intellectual property and other assets of Impeva for US$2m in cash plus US$818,923 in assumed liabilities. With the auction due to take place on May 4, other interested parties must pre-qualify and submit their bid no later than April 28.

Randall Shepard, recently appointed CEO of Impeva, stated: “We are grateful for Arinc’s support in these difficult times. Our primary goals through this bid process are to sustain normal operations, complete critical development, fulfil our back orders for devices, and return as much value as possible to our creditors and investors.”

Formed in December 2004, Impeva kept a low profile for the first three years, developing its global tracking services products on the back of proceeds from early seed investment and a Series A funding round led by NTT Leasing in December 2005. In early 2008, the company began to more aggressively market itself, signing contracts with a number of large shipping companies as well as alongside Arinc for the US Army’s Next-Generation Total Asset Visibility Project. In November 2008, Impeva completed its second round of financing, raising US$10m from a number of investors including NTT. Impeva claims to have invested over US$22m to develop its technologies, devices, and global services infrastructure.