Today was the last day for interested parties to submit their bid in the Mobilicity auction by which it hopes to sell itself to a new owner. Only WIND Mobile publicly confirmed that it was participating and it may be a while yet before we find out the outcome of the auction. In the meantime, Mobilicity and its court-appointed monitor, Ernst & Young Inc., have requested an extension of their creditor protection under Canada’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). Set to expire on December 20, they have requested a second extension to February 18, 2014.
According to documents filed today, the extension “to complete the Sales Process, and following the expiry of the Bid Deadline, negotiate transaction documents with the successful bidder or bidders under the Sales Process as appropriate.” It also indicates that the company has “sufficient resources” to continue operating until then.
The same documents reveal that Mobiliicty has been working on “maintaining the stability of their business” by implementing a number of cost reduction measures. Among these are moving their head office to smaller premises in Woodbridge and terminating “certain employees who’s services were no longer required.” Former CEO Stewart Lyons also left the company with Anthony Booth who was Chief Customer Officer taking over as interim CEO.
Mobilicity expects to close out 2013 with about 175,000 customers.
If nothing else, it does appear that Mobilicity is making some progress at finding a buyer interested in picking up its customers, assets and spectrum.
Sources : Ernst & Young (PDF) // @RitaTrichur