Philip Falcone has stepped down from LightSquared’s board after fighting to keep control of the satellite/terrestrial venture during its two years in bankruptcy.
Falcone and four other members of the board that had been appointed by his hedge fund…
Philip Falcone has stepped down from LightSquared’s board after fighting to keep control of the satellite/terrestrial venture during its two years in bankruptcy.
Falcone and four other members of the board that had been appointed by his hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners, which owns LightSquared’s equity, have voluntarily resigned, according to a letter filed with the FCC yesterday.
The move comes after Harbinger was forced into court-supervised mediation with the company’s creditors, following their failure to agree a Chapter 11 restructuring plan.
LightSquared’s bankruptcy judge ordered the company into mediation after rejecting a plan that she said was unfair on its largest debt holder Charlie Ergen, chairman of DTH firm Dish Network.
Falcone has accused Ergen of trying to game the restructuring process by improperly acquiring the debt, and the situation is complicated because the same judge has also criticised the satellite TV billionaire’s behaviour in the case.
At one point Ergen made a US$2.22bn offer for LightSquared’s main spectrum assets, but this was withdrawn at the start of the year.
The venture filed for voluntary reorganisation back in May 2012, giving it breathing room from creditors while it seeks a way around GPS interference concerns that are stopping it from launching an LTE network.
