The wireless communications company LightSquared may have a path out of bankruptcy that allows its biggest shareholder, the billionaire hedge fund manager Philip Falcone, to retain some of the control he has sought.
Lawyers for LightSquared filed documents in a New York bankruptcy court late Tuesday, outlining a plan to bring in at least $1.25 billion in new equity and $2.75 billion in loans. The plan is backed by Fortress Investment Group, Melody Capital Partners, JPMorgan Chase and Harbinger Capital Partners.
The move caps a tumultuous year for LightSquared. The company has been at the center of a continued feud between Mr. Falcone, who runs Harbinger, and Charles Ergen, the satellite television mogul and the chairman of Dish Network.
Mr. Falcone and Mr. Ergen have spent months jockeying for LightSquared after the company filed for bankruptcy last year. LightSquared commenced an auction process that drew a $2.2 billion bid from Dish in August. A week later, Harbinger sued, claiming that Mr. Ergen had been surreptitiously buying the company’s debt in a separate bid for control. Harbinger contended that the move circumvented stipulations in LightSquared’s covenants that prevented a competitor, like Dish, from buying its debt.
The suit also accused Mr. Ergen of making a “lowball, bad-faith bid†for LightSquared’s wireless spectrum through a Dish subsidiary. The accusations came against a backdrop of a larger industry scramble to acquire spectrum â€" a limited yet vital resource for telecommunications companies to run wireless networks.
LightSquared canceled its auction plans after it received no competing bids, but Mr. Ergen’s bid is set to remain in effect until mid-February.
A federal bankruptcy judge, Shelley C. Chapman, will review the proposed financing plan.
LightSquared’s bankruptcy filing came after the Federal Communications Commission forbade the company from creating a 4G LTE network, which the regulator feared would interfere with GPS navigation. Those plans would have transformed LightSquared into a broadband network that could compete with major players including AT&T and Verizon.
As part of the arrangement, Melody Capital has agreed to lend LightSquared $285 million until it can put its larger capital plan in place.
The latest financing plans are also contingent upon approval by the F.C.C.
A representative for LightSquared declined to comment. Harbinger did not respond to requests for comment.
