Platinum Uproots Trinsic Ops

Platinum Equity Group has been battening down the hatches at Florida-based Trinsic Inc., the bankrupt CLEC it bought at the end of March.

Michael Rogers, the channel manager, was laid off in mid-April and CEO Trey Davis has been told he wont be part of the new company. At press time, he still was working for Trinsic, likely helping Platinum with transitioning details. It was not known who would take his place. Forty-nine other people also have lost their jobs.

The changes came as little surprise to the industry. Sources speculated three months ago that Trinsic would be bought and either reorganized or put out of business altogether.

Platinum, which did not return requests for an interview, won Trinsic at auction in late March. It paid $25 million, beating out MLM company American Communications Network Inc. Platinum reportedly plans to combine Trinsic with another CLEC it owns, Matrix Telecom Inc.

Matrix, headquartered in New York, targets small businesses with dedicated Internet and other data services. However, in January 2006, Matrix bought Global Crossings Small Business Group, which provides voice and data products. Trinsic offers local and long-distance to residential and business users, so combining the two companies is a sound strategy, says a former employee. The pieces fit together well for one well-rounded CLEC as opposed to two somewhat limited ones, the source said.

Trinsic made its name as a nationwide CLEC. It filed for bankruptcy on Feb. 7, 2007.