Avaya emerges from bankruptcy as a private company, shareholders left out

Avaya Technologies completed its restructuring and emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy with a $650 million cash reserve.

The company's headquarters, which was once in Durham, where layoffs were initiated leading to bankruptcy, are now in New Jersey.

Alan Masarek, CEO of the company, was not available for comment.

In a release announcing the firm's exit from Chapter 11, Masarek stated that the plan was to "move[e] forward with significant financial resources in order to accelerate our investment portfolio while we continue to deliver innovation to our customers without disruption."

Masarek stated, 'I am grateful for the support our investors have shown throughout this process. I also thank our customers, our partners, our team members, and other stakeholders, who have consistently demonstrated their commitment to Avaya and placed their trust in Avaya.

Avaya’s reorganization was approved in march. Aparna Yenamandra, an attorney with Kirkland & Ellis, described the plan as the result of'months' worth of intense and sometimes antagonistic negotiations.

While the majority of objections were addressed, shareholder letters were not. Some shareholders, who told the Triangle Business Journal that they had invested after Masarek explained his vision, have been left out in the cold, as it is common in bankruptcy cases.

In documents related to Chapter 11, the company stated that it 'does not expect shareholders to recover any money at the end, in accordance with legal priorities'.

The company stated in a filing made in February that it was aware of the fact that many employees and individual shareholders would be negatively affected by the cancellation of the public stock. Please know that the financial restructuring was carefully planned and that the steps taken are essential to the long-term survival of the company.

Before filing, the company had to deal with several issues - from a bad debt deal to an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Avaya announced job cuts last year in an effort to turn the company around. Masarek, a Vonage veteran, took over as CEO in August from former Jim Chirico.

Avaya has now become a private company, backed by existing lenders including private equity Apollo Global Management Inc., and Brigade Capital Management LP. Each of these firms invested significant additional capital in the transition.