Platinum Equity Wins Trinsic Auction

Platinum Equity LLC, an investor that buys ailing companies and then runs them, has purchased bankrupt Trinsic Inc. for $25.5 million.

Platinum bought Trinsic in late March after two auctions typically, there is only one. However, the first time, Trinsic tried to sell to multilevel phone marketer American Communications Network Inc. (ACN), even though Platinum was the highest bidder. Trinsics investor, Thermo Credit LLC, protested the proposed ACN sale; Thermo Credit stood to lose millions if ACN which boasts less-substantive coffers than Platinum took over.

Now thats all settled. Margaret Mahoney, a judge for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Alabama in Mobile awarded sale rights to Platinum on March 21, after another auction. And in an unusual step, Platinum, through its Tide Acquisition Corp. division, already has sent personnel to Trinsic headquarters. The investor generally waits until a deal closes before it puts its managers on-site; this time, it decided to start the Trinsic transition process right away, says Mark Barnhill, a principal at Platinum.

Barnhill wasnt able to say whether Trinsic executives, including CEO Trey Davis, will keep their jobs. Existing managers often get axed when an investor such as Platinum takes over a company. Barnhill said it was too early in the process to discuss particulars. He wasnt able to address leadership changes, or how Trinsics business plan might be adjusted and how that would affect Trinsics supply chain, such as agents. He stresses, however, that customers should experience no service disruption as Trinsic restructures.

Trinsic landed in bankruptcy court on Feb. 7 after years of falling stock prices and weak financials. When it filed for bankruptcy, the company reported $48.3 million in debt and only $27.6 million in assets.