Posted on 08/10/2002 7:18 AM Pacific
Hutchison Whampoa, the mammoth company that runs the Panama Canal and has close ties to the Chinese army, has a new rhinestone in its crown: Global Crossing.
Along with another Asian company, Singapore Technologies, it paid $250 million today for the bankrupt fiber-optic network company - a third of the original offer.
"An outside financial adviser to Global Crossing who was called to testify at a hastily scheduled hearing early Friday said only three credible bids had been received during a lengthy auction process and that bidders were spooked by the ongoing collapse of the business," the Associated Press reported.
"It's a very difficult world today in the telecommunications industry," said Arthur Newman, the senior managing director in charge of the restructuring for Blackstone Group.
The Asian companies agreed to invest $250 million in Global Crossing's business, and to pay $300 million in cash and issue $200 million in notes to its creditors. "The investors will hold a controlling 61.5 percent stake in the new Global Crossing that emerges from bankruptcy, possibly early next year," AP said.
Global Crossing is the fourth-largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.
Observations:
A Chinese company with ties to the red army snaps up the company known for its fishy ties with Democrat national chairman Terry McAuliffe, Bill Clinton's boy.
Clinton was notorious for the payments he received from the Chinese.
Thanks to an insane giveway by another Democrat president, Jimmy Carter, Hutchison Whampoa controls the Panama Canal.
Why has Hutchison Whampoa's purchase of Global Crossing received almost no media attention?
The observations are good.