Posted on 06/21/2004 12:13:28 PM PDT by Pikamax
Air America restructures under new banner
By John Cook Tribune staff reporter Published June 19, 2004
The investors in Air America Radio, the liberal talk radio network that launched in March, are restructuring the company to free it of any obligations incurred by ousted chairman and founding investor Evan Cohen.
The investors, including Highland Park couple Sheldon and Anita Drobny and Air America Chief Executive Doug Kreeger, formed a new corporation, Piquant LLC. They plan to use the new entity to purchase the assets of Air America from Progress Media and RadioFree America, two related companies that own and operate the network.
"We have an asset purchase agreement we've entered into," said Norman Wain, another investor. "Progress Media and RadioFree America are selling all of their assets to Piquant."
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
restructuring the company to free it of any obligations
means that someone is getting screwed...
Hmmm... I thought liberals were against 'business screwing people'...
I thought liberals were in the business OF screwing people (sorry it had to be written).
Hmmm... can you really buy only a company's assets and leave the liabilities behind?
If that's the case, I want to buy GM's assets and not have to bother paying back their loans or accounts payable!
Just like Big Stupid Government. Currently run by the Republicans. Hmmmmmm . . . . . . .
FYI..there was a front page story on the same topic in today's WSJ....sounds like a lot of folks got conned...Franken's contract is for one million...remember all the hoopla when he said he would forgo it, to keep the program going?..it tuirns out he had been stiffed by the owners..FRanken had the choice at the time to quit, or to stay on, and put some spin on it..


Yep, you sure can. Those debts still exist, however. Typically the previous business continues to exist for the purpose of relieving those debts and a new business is formed.
I went through this very situation when we sold my debt-laden company. The buyer purchased the assets and we (the partners of the bought company) were left to deal with the debts separately.
Over at DU, the Rats are in full on denial mode.
(fingers plugged in ears) "NA NA NA NA...these are lies concocted by ultra-right wing neo-cons! Everything is going smashingly with Air America! We'll be laughing when we dominate talk radio years down the road! NA NA NA NA!"
Thanks, Karl...FYI PIkamax.."ask and ye shall receivea"
Yep, typcial leftist approach to business. Lose money, pile up debt, then disappear, only to re-emerge under a new name an a clean credit record. Then start the process over again.
Drobny figured out that there was a pent-up demand for liberal radio on the investor side. That is, there are a lot of rich liberals who are being driven up the wall every day by Rush, Fox News, etc., and are looking for a way to "do something about it."
Drobny said to his wife "I think there may be a way here for an honest man to make a dollar."
I don't know the details, of course, but I think what Drobny did was essentially set up a "deal" to fund a liberal alternative radio network with venture capital raised from such rich liberals. He kept most of the money, and "sold the idea" to someone else, who proceeded to run it into the ground.
Now Drobny is arranging to do it all over again with a second round of rich liberal (uh) investors.
(steely)
If this was a serious liberal station, they would have at least gotten Alan Colmes.
Regards, Ivan
Sounds like they're being revamped as a porn company...
I'm all for the liberals having their own radio station, too. It's much easier to expose the fallacies of their arguments when idiots like Randi Rhodes are getting significant airtime. However, a liberal radio station just isn't viable in the real world. Talk radio is dominated by conservative voices because of consumer demand - conservative radio sells, liberal radio doesn't. Financing fiascoes aside, Air America doesn't have a shot because there's just no market for it. If somebody wants liberal news, they just have to buy the NY Times or flip on CNN.
Whst is disturbing is that that makes a kind of sense.
Oh brother...
Can't the media tell the truth here? 'Reorganization to remove debt load' has another name - Chapter 11, of the Bankruptcy Code.
If it were a conservative media outlet, the papers would be trumpetting 'Conservatives Declare Chapter 11'.
Most assuredly you can. However, if the company's creditors can force it into involuntary bankruptcy within 90 days of the sale, the judge can over turn the sale under the doctrine of fraudulent conveyance.
Yes and no. Since this appears to be a sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the corporation, the transaction constitutes a "bulk sale" under Article 5 of the Uniform Commercial Code and as result, the buyer/seller will have to give notice to creditors so they can grab onto the proceeds of the sale. Failure to give creditors notice of the bulk sale could result in a transfer of the liabilities to the buyer. The sale could also constitute a fraudulent conveyance, depending upon how it is structured, which could also result in the buyer being responsibe for the debt up to the value of the property transferred.
Mel Brooks should make a movie about this!
Nice way of saying they went belly up and are liquidating whatever assets are left.
| Pronunciation: | 'peekunt |
||
| Matching Terms: | piquance, piquancy, piquantly |
||
| Definition: | |||
| Synonyms: | attractive, engaging, salty, savory, savoury, spicy, stimulating, tasteful, zesty | ||
French = Piquant
English = Pissant
As in, "Welcome to Pissant radio! We're sassy and insignificant!
It's still going bankrupt. There may have been mismanagement but in the end it's the complete lack of interest that did it in. Liberals live in a fantasy world where they think everyone wants to hear what they have to say.
Further proof that liberalism is merely another symptom of a serious brain malfunction.
Pray for W and Our Awesome Troops
Is this how the liberal media describes impending bankruptcy(financial) for a liberal media member?
I hear their real financial problem is Franken's deli tab.
This has got to be a scam!
Just what ASSETS does this company have to sell?
It doesn't manufacture any product, so there's no inventory. Sounds like it rents/leases all of it's space, thus no buildings or related capital assets.
For a company that's only been around a very short time and can't pay it's bills there can't be many assets.
Except for studio equipment, office items (desks, computers, copiers, etc.) they don't have much in the way of assets.
Sounds an awful lot like a fraudulent conveyance to hinder or delay creditors to me.
Look for the new book by the Drobny's and Mr. Kreeger How to Pi$$ Away Perfectly Good Money at Amazon now!
They're probably just screwing another corporation, so that's OK in their book.
You're close. They're against it as long as they're not in on the action.
Bingo.
You got it--their insolvent-- at least until they run and hide from creditors.
Norman Wain, a Cleveland radio entrepreneur, says Mr. Cohen told him that Air America already had $30 million in the bank. Mr. Wain says he was told that his contribution would not be used until a separate round of financing was completed.
Messrs. Walsh and Saade say Mr. Cohen told them that TV producer Norman Lear had given Air America $2 million and pledged another $2 million. They also say Mr. Cohen told them that Laurie David, wife of comedian Larry David, had invested $2 million and pledged another $4 million.
Buoyed by the good news, Mr. Walsh told reporters on a March 11 conference call that the network was "well on our way" to raising "upward of $30 million" by its planned March 31 launch.
In fact, Mr. Lear and Ms. David were approached by Mr. Cohen but didn't invest, their spokespeople say. The amount raised totaled only $6 million, Mr. Cohen and Air America executives agree.
Unleash the plaintiffs' lawyers! Let the securities fraud lawsuits begin!
Yep, they must not have gotten all of the tumor.
Another word for bankruptcy ?
exactly my sentiment in reading the first paragraph - you can't restructure without first declaring bankruptcy.
Another word for fraudulent transfer.
... post 14 ...
nevermind
A new banner? Hmmmm. I think that the Hammer and Sickle became available in 1989.
Thanks, President Reagan.
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