ORBCOMM DENYING RUMORS OF ‘COMPLETE LIQUIDATION’
Officials of Orbcomm and supplier companies were denying Tues. that company was about to run out of money, despite industry rumor that it could close down within days for lack of cash. Orbcomm COO Carol Hannah in brief interview would say only that “there are issues we are dealing with” and company was “working every angle we can” to secure financing. She refused to speculate on how long it could survive if financial needs weren’t met in timely fashion. “That’s not an appropriate question to be asking me,” Hannah said.
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Rumors of imminent move of Orbcomm from bankruptcy reorganization to complete shutdown are “incorrect and I'm pretty familiar with situation,” said Zui Huber, CEO of Orbcomm supplier Stellar Sat: “They have sufficient funds to operate for more than a week or 2 weeks, but it’s not up to me to tell you how long they have.” Huber acknowledged shutdown was “possible” if company “doesn’t find extra cash,” but he had been “working on a daily basis” with Hannah to find investors. “Things look pretty good,” he said: “There is no significant risk they will cease operations.”
News of possible Orbcomm demise was surprise to Stephen Watwood, CEO of Orbcomm reseller American Millenium. He said earlier rumors had indicated company might run out of money at end of Jan. or early Feb., but said he hadn’t put much stock in them: “There have been numerous rumors in the past 2 months about Orbcomm, but we're moving forward with our project. You see the flames, but you don’t see the fire.” However, Watwood said his company hadn’t heard from Orbcomm about plans recently: “We've had no official or unofficial communication. We were getting e- mails, but that ceased one month ago.”
Orbcomm rumors definitely were circulating. One source said there were indications Orbcomm still had enough money to hold on until end of first quarter. It’s no industry secret Orbcomm has been struggling financially (CD Aug 8 p3) in tight satellite investment market, but company officials have been putting on brave public face, saying fortunes eventually would turn around (CD Sept 22 p5).