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debt posts

Qualcomm takes a piece of Pantech

by Chris Ziegler posted Aug 18th 2009 @ 2:58PM

Korea's Pantech has always played second fiddle (well, third fiddle, we suppose) to global giants Samsung and LG, but somehow, the little guy has managed to be cash flow positive for the past eight quarters of financial results since undertaking a corporate restructuring. To further strengthen its position, it's in the process of swapping some outstanding debt for equity -- and one of those creditors just happens to be Qualcomm, which has a booming Korean business and enjoys tight relationships with many of the local players. This sounds like it won't really have any material effect on Pantech's day-to-day operations, since Qualcomm says it wants to stay passive and won't move to install any management or board members; that being said, it could end up with as much as 15 percent of Pantech's common stock, which is a nice little chunk. We're guessing this means we won't be seeing many Pantechs with Broadcom basebands, eh?

[Via Unwired View]

Sprint gets slapped with debt downgrade, lawsuit

by Chris Ziegler posted May 4th 2008 @ 7:33PM

If there's one thing Sprint doesn't need at the moment, we'd say that "a harder time getting cash" ranks high on the list. That's where big ol' number three finds itself at the moment, though, thanks to a credit downgrade by Standard & Poor's from "BBB-" to "BB," a move that puts its bonds squarely in junk territory. S&P has some harsh words for Sprint regarding the move, too, explaining that it went down thanks to its "assessment that Sprint Nextel's business risk profile is no longer supportive of an investment-grade rating given its deteriorating operating performance and lack of visibility in the wireless business." Lack of visibility in the wireless business, eh? Snap! The junkification of Sprint's debt coincides with the installment of a new CFO -- purely a coincidence, no doubt -- effective immediately.

But wait, the bad news isn't over. A workers' lawsuit filed in US District Court last week alleges that Sprint dumped pension plan cash into Sprint stock at a time when... well, let's just say that it wasn't exactly a solid investment. The suit names 12 Sprint board members as co-defendants and looks to recover the money lost as Sprint stock slid into the basement; furthermore, it's looking to garner class-action status, meaning that the carrier could potentially owe money to a whole boatload of employees if the plaintiffs win the whole shebang.

Read - Debt downgrade, new CFO
Read - Pension plan lawsuit

FCC ponders allowing debt collectors to auto-dial mobiles

by Paul Miller posted Apr 24th 2006 @ 6:59PM

There was quite a bit of rejoicing at the FCC's decision in 2003 to limit telemarketers and debt collectors in their auto-dialing methods of contacting mobile users. Now there's a chance that decision could be reversed, at least for debt collectors who are currently petitioning the FCC through their trade association ACA International. Debt collectors are arguing that they were unfairly lumped in with telemarketers in the auto-dialing ban, since all of their numbers are collected through legitimate means. The National Consumer Law Center argues that it's unfair to mobile users to have to pay for peak usage minutes to receive calls from debt collectors, and that giving an agency your mobile number doesn't necessarily mean you wish to be contacted. The FCC has agreed to review ACA International's request, and is currently seeking public comments on the subject. We're thinking about going dark for a bit, after which we'll reemerge from Switzerland with a new face, a new SSN and, of course, a new mobile phone number.

[Via textually.org]