iBEAM Files for Bankruptcy; Williams Purchases iBEAM Assets for $25 Million

周四，iBEAM (www.工字梁.com) announced that it has voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a Delaware court. 威廉姆斯通信, 已经拥有iBEAM 49%的股份, signed a deal yesterday to purchase the assets of iBEAM for $25 million in cash.

Williams also said it was giving iBEAM a loan of up to $18 million to continue operations until the asset sale is finalized. At the time of the sale, the loan will be repaid from the proceeds of the asset sale. 2001年6月, Williams invested $20 million in cash and $10 million in services in iBEAM, 一直在挣扎求生的公司.

根据公司的说法, Williams’ purchase bid and its loan are both subject to approval of the bankruptcy court. Other companies may bid on iBEAM, but so far no other offers have been received.

了亨利, iBEAM营销高级副总裁, said the company recently took operations off Exodus' backbone and switched completely to Williams in 12 hours, 而不会对顾客造成影响. "We have communicated with all our customers in the last 24 hours and in all circumstances, 我们的客户非常积极,亨利说。. "Since we've tightened our network into the Williams network . . . 人们的反应非常积极."

“我们的协议, 如果得到法院的批准, will benefit customers of both iBEAM and 威廉姆斯通信. iBEAM’s impressive list of blue-chip streaming customers and expertise is a perfect strategic fit for the assets that we already have in place, including our network and broadband media platform,霍华德·简森说, chairman and chief executive officer of 威廉姆斯通信. "We are confident that our proposal offers the best options for iBEAM's customers, 员工, 和债权人, and that it is a realistic plan which provides significant long-term value to 威廉姆斯通信 shareholders through added capabilities and increased network utilization."

作为对新闻的回应, the Nasdaq exchange said it would stop trading on iBEAM until it supplied additional 信息, although it didn't specify what 信息 it was looking for. 目前，iBEAM的股价为29美分.

格雷格Onyszchuk, vice-president MediaExtranet for 威廉姆斯通信 said that the deal would accelerate synergies between the two companies. They called the decision to file bankruptcy as a mutual one. iBEAM was looking to secure funding, and Williams was the right decision, said Henry. "It was important to reduce the risk of some particular legal proceedings that iBEAM is party to,他补充道. 这是股东诉讼, which many post-bubble Internet companies are facing in recent months, regarding alleged irregularities with their initial public offerings.

Asked about a rumored lawsuit between RealNetworks and iBEAM, Henry said that no public proceedings have been announced with any vendors. "I don't think I can comment on anything between iBEAM and Real,他说.

据亨利说, the financing from Williams will be used to ensure that customers are handled well during the transition period. "We would like to be on the best and most stable footing and on the best possible road track,他说.

Williams said it plans to integrate iBEAM into its Vyvx Broadband Media unit, 哪一家提供宽频媒体服务, but there was no word on whether iBEAM executives would move over. "It's premature to comment on that," said Onyszchuk.

Because the deal isn't final yet, there was no word on whether there would be company-wide layoffs. 亨利确实说过, 然而, that iBEAM has been "managing the size" of the company for the past year, 这会导致裁员吗. But he said that he envisions a "significant number" of iBEAM's 员工 would stay on until after the sale to Williams.

The companies expect the transaction to be completed within 60 to 90 days. "It's a fairly aggressive timetable," said Onyszchuk. "The courts will determine how quickly we can move through the transaction. 我们希望事情越快越好, so that potential impact is minimized and the notion of risk is quickly laid to rest."

最近几个月, iBEAM said it has stayed away from delivery content via satellite, 就像它在鼎盛时期所做的那样. “我们现在正在寻找, we will rely on the network infrastructure that [Williams has], and not really focus on the delivery mechanisms we've used in the past,亨利说。. "We have found that as the integration into Williams’ network [progresses], the delivery backbone itself is of remarkable quality." Henry called the overall delivery performance as "truly outstanding," saying that the company can now focus on the "application service" on top of the delivery.

据公司代表说, streaming traffic at one of iBEAM's news sites increased from "2000-10,000 percentage points" in response to the increased demand in news after the terrorist attacks of a month ago.