Sungard AS Exits Bankruptcy in Record Time

Sungard Availability Services (Sungard AS) exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy less than 24 hours after filing with new ownership and Broadview Networks’ former president and CEO at the helm.

The company filed Chapter 11 with a pre-negotiated plan to reduce its nearly $1.3 billion debt and transfer control to a group of creditors. Its restructuring plan was confirmed Thursday by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

The restructuring reduced Sungard AS’ debt by more than $800 million and includes $100 million of new liquidity provided by the company’s creditors. Sungard AS said it “emerges from this process as a much stronger company with a sustainable capital structure to support the company’s investment and growth plan and to continue to service existing and new customers well into the future.”

Sungard AS’ Mike Robinson

Mike Robinson has been appointed Sungard AS’ new CEO, succeeding Andrew Stern, who served as CEO for nine years. In his 12-year tenure at Broadview, Robinson led the transformation of its strategy and business model from a traditional local telecom service provider to a cloud-based UCaaS provider serving the needs of enterprise customers nationwide. Windstream purchased Broadview in 2017.

“I’m thrilled to be joining Sungard AS,” Robinson said. “Our strong heritage as a leader in IT services, colocation and disaster recovery creates an exciting opportunity for the emerged business. The strength of our restructured balance sheet combined with our robust solutions portfolio, extensive global footprint, strong customer base and the outstanding professionals who are dedicated to providing exceptional service for our customers make us uniquely positioned to take advantage of the market potential before us.”

The reorganized company’s new ownership and largest shareholders now include: Angelo, Gordon & Co., The Carlyle Group Global Credit, FS Investments and GSO Capital Partners, all of whom will have representation on the restructured company’s board of directors along with Robinson.