Casa Systems Bankruptcy: $45.1M Cable Sale, Plan Confirmed
Casa Systems Bankruptcy: $45.1M Cable Sale, Liquidation Plan Confirmed
ElevenFlo Research
March 6, 202613 min readUpdated June 25, 2026
Casa Systems converted a distressed broadband-equipment maker into two going-concern asset sales and a confirmed wind-down in roughly 65 days, lifting its cable business from a $20 million stalking-horse floor to a $45.1 million sale to CommScope. The company filed chapter 11 and initiated a court-supervised sale process on April 3, 2024 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (lead case 24-10695), supported by senior secured lenders holding a supermajority of its funded debt.
The case followed a two-track disposition: a near-immediate carve-out sale of the Axyom cloud-native 5G core and RAN software assets to Lumine Group to fund the cases, and an auction of the cable business with Vecima as the initial stalking-horse bidder. The court entered the Confirmation Order on June 5, 2024, with an effective date of June 7, 2024.
The First Day Declaration of Edward Durkin attributed the filing to a liquidity crisis that intensified in fall 2023 after prolonged pressure in the cable and telecom markets, customer spending delays and losses, heavy research-and-development spending on the 5G mobile core and RAN products, mounting restructuring costs, and debt service that outpaced available liquidity. Casa, an Andover, Massachusetts broadband and telecom equipment vendor with roughly 823 employees (245 in the United States) across cable, access-device, cloud-native software, and RAN product lines, had invested more than $130 million since 2016 to build a cloud-native platform while still selling largely under a perpetual-license model rather than recurring revenue. Management also said its 2019 NetComm acquisition underperformed and contributed to strained liquidity.
Before filing, Casa explored strategic alternatives and attempted to sell business lines out of court without producing a complete solution. Industry coverage placed the filing against a broader pullback in private 5G and telecom spending, and S&P Global downgraded Casa to 'D' after the petition. The company also disclosed layoffs affecting more than 230 employees around the filing.
Casa carried approximately $183 million of funded secured debt, structured as an original term loan facility, superpriority term loans, and a stub term loan, against roughly $316 million in total debt. More than 98% of the superpriority term loans and 100% of the stub term loan were held by the ad hoc lender group supporting the restructuring. The debtors missed a roughly $5.6 million interest payment due March 15, 2024, and reported only about $4.2 million of unrestricted cash on the petition date — enough, the declaration of Brian Whittman of Alvarez & Marsal stated, to survive only through the end of April without cash collateral relief and sale proceeds.
Casa's securities were suspended from Nasdaq trading as of April 5, 2024 and later delisted. Its NetComm subsidiary entered a separate Australian voluntary administration on March 11, 2024 and was not part of the U.S. chapter 11 cases; DZS later agreed to acquire NetComm for $7 million at closing plus up to $3 million in earnout consideration, though DZS itself subsequently filed for chapter 7 and ceased U.S. operations in March 2025.
Cash Collateral and the Committee Settlement
Unable to secure DIP financing or a priming alternative, Casa sought to use the lenders' cash collateral under a negotiated 10-week budget. The Final Cash Collateral Order set that 10-week cash-flow forecast as the approved budget, with rolling four-week updates subject to secured-party consent and weekly variance reporting against defined thresholds for receipts, disbursements, and net cash flow. Adequate protection took the form of replacement liens and superpriority claims, and the order's professional-fee carve-out covered clerk and U.S. Trustee fees, chapter 7 trustee fees up to $25,000, and post-trigger caps of $750,000 for debtor professionals and $250,000 for committee professionals.
The official committee of unsecured creditors objected to the proposed final package, challenging the milestone structure, investigation budget, and protections for secured parties. The debtors, committee, and ad hoc lenders resolved that dispute through a May 10, 2024 settlement term sheet that the court later found integral to confirmation. The settlement fixed a $2 million committee professional budget, with overruns reducing the unsecured recovery pool dollar-for-dollar, and built an oversight structure around the plan administrator and a preserved-actions administrator.
Holders of allowed general unsecured claims were to share a recovery pool funded by $1.6 million in cash, 7.5% of net cable proceeds above the first $20 million, any unspent committee professional budget, proceeds of certain preserved litigation claims, and Guo/Xie claim proceeds, subject to a $3 million pool cap and a 25% per-claim recovery cap. The Second Amended Disclosure Statement carried these terms into the plan's class 4 treatment.
Dual-Track Sale to Lumine and CommScope
Casa launched the case needing the Cloud/RAN transaction to close within roughly 21 days of filing to supply liquidity for the rest of the cases, while the cable business ran through a marketed auction. Lumine signed its Axyom agreement on April 3, 2024; the court approved the private sale of the Cloud/RAN assets on April 26, 2024, and Lumine closed the transaction on April 30, branding the unit Axyom.Core. Competing sale materials show a bid progression from an initial $15 million proposal to an $18 million competing offer; Bloomberg reported the final sale price at $32.3 million, structured to fund the bankruptcy.
For the cable business, the Bidding Procedures Order set a May 24, 2024 bid deadline, a May 29 auction, and a June 4 sale hearing, with cable bid protections of a $600,000 break-up fee and expense reimbursement including a $375,000 payment component under defined termination scenarios. Vecima opened the process with a $20 million stalking-horse bid and emerged as backup bidder at $44.95 million, while CommScope was selected as the highest and best bid at $45.1 million on May 29, 2024.
The cable sale order entered June 4, 2024 found that the debtors had adequately marketed the assets and run a fair and open process under the bidding procedures, and approved the sale free and clear of liens, claims, interests, and encumbrances, subject to specified assumed liabilities and permitted liens, with standard good-faith-purchaser and no-successor-liability findings. CommScope's acquisition closed on June 7, 2024, the same day the plan went effective.
Third Amended Liquidation Plan and Class Treatment
Casa filed a liquidation plan on the petition date and amended it repeatedly as sale outcomes and the settlement developed, confirming the Third Amended Joint Plan of Liquidation on June 5, 2024. The plan classified claims and interests into eight classes. Classes 1 (other secured) and 2 (other priority) were unimpaired and paid in full or rendered unimpaired; classes 3 (term loan facility) and 4 (general unsecured) were the only impaired voting classes, each receiving a pro rata share of distributable proceeds; and classes 5 through 8 were impaired and deemed to reject, with section 510(b) claims (class 6) and existing equity (class 7) cancelled for no distribution.
Class
Description
Status
Treatment
1
Other Secured Claims
Unimpaired
Paid in full or rendered unimpaired
2
Other Priority Claims
Unimpaired
Paid in full or rendered unimpaired
3
Term Loan Facility Claims
Impaired (voting)
Pro rata share of distributable proceeds
4
General Unsecured Claims
Impaired (voting)
Pro rata share of the negotiated GUC pool
5
Intercompany Claims
Impaired (deemed reject)
Reinstated, cancelled, or released
6
Section 510(b) Claims
Impaired (deemed reject)
Cancelled; no distribution
7
Existing Equity Interests
Impaired (deemed reject)
Cancelled; no distribution
8
Intercompany Interests
Impaired (deemed reject)
Reinstated, cancelled, or released
Plan Class Treatment
Class 3 term loan facility claims were the fulcrum secured class. The Term Loan Recovery pool included sale proceeds, proceeds from liquidating remaining net distributable assets, additional dollars from the unsecured recovery pool above specified caps, and residual cash after funding defined reserves and capped payments. The plan capped the wind-down amount at $2.0 million, the priority claims amount at $3.3 million plus certain sale and cash-collateral bid-protection amounts, the key-employee incentive pool at $2.0 million, and the general unsecured recovery pool at $3.0 million with a maximum per-claim recovery of 25%.
The releases and exculpation approved in the Confirmation Order carried carve-outs for fraud, willful misconduct, and gross negligence, plus a consensual third-party release framework with an opt-out election process for non-voting classes during solicitation. The court found the settlement term sheet integral to confirmation because it resolved litigation risk among the debtors, committee, and ad hoc lenders and preserved value for the estates.
Casa went public in a downsized 2017 IPO with pre-IPO investors including Summit Partners. In April 2022, Verizon invested approximately $40 million in Casa common stock for a 9.9% ownership stake alongside a multi-year purchase contract; that equity was cancelled under the confirmed plan for no distribution.
Plan Administration and Professional Fees
The Third Plan Supplement named Gary Broadbent as plan administrator with compensation of $45,000 upon execution and effectiveness, $45,000 per month for the first twelve months commencing June 2024, and $30,000 per month from June 2025 until he no longer serves. The Fourth Plan Supplement named David Dunn as preserved-actions administrator, compensated at 2% of gross proceeds of preserved actions.
The estate incentivized management around sale execution through a key employee incentive plan covering eight senior officers, including the CEO, CFO, chief product officer, chief human resources officer, corporate general counsel, and chief accounting officer. Capped at $2 million, the KEIP was calculated as 3% of sale proceeds above $35 million plus 3% of net distributable proceeds above $25.7 million, payable on or promptly after the effective date and conditioned on continued employment through that date and each participant's waiver of all claims against the estates, including severance.
An omnibus final fee order approved professional compensation for April 3 through June 5, 2024: $4,631,873 for Sidley Austin, $407,745.50 for Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, $2,682,916.66 for Ducera Partners, $1,225,132.20 for Alvarez & Marsal North America, $1,605,784 for McDermott Will & Emery, $423,090 for Province, and $17,901.50 for Epiq Corporate Restructuring. Casa retained Sidley Austin as counsel, with Ducera as financial advisor, Alvarez & Marsal as restructuring advisor, and Epiq as claims agent; Latham & Watkins advised CommScope on the cable acquisition.
The Notice of Effective Date set administrative-claims and rejection-damages deadlines of July 8, 2024 and professional fee applications due July 22, 2024, and the plan set a claims-objection bar date 180 days after the effective date, subject to court-approved extensions by the plan administrator. The wind-down remained active into 2025: on February 25, 2025 the plan administrator filed fifth and sixth omnibus objections to claims, the sixth a "no liability" objection with a March 18, 2025 response deadline and a March 27 hearing before Judge Owens, against a register of roughly 133 proofs of claim.
Key Timeline
Date
Event
Dec 2017
Downsized IPO
Apr 2022
Verizon $40 million equity stake and multi-year contract
Mar 11, 2024
NetComm voluntary administration (Australia)
Mar 15, 2024
Missed ~$5.6 million interest payment
Apr 3, 2024
Chapter 11 filing, liquidation plan, and dual-track sale process launched
Apr 5, 2024
Nasdaq trading suspension; interim cash collateral order
Apr 26, 2024
Cloud/RAN private sale approved
Apr 30, 2024
Axyom sale closing (Lumine)
May 10, 2024
Committee settlement term sheet filed
May 29, 2024
Cable auction; CommScope selected as highest bidder at $45.1 million
Jun 5, 2024
Plan confirmation (~65-day case)
Jun 7, 2024
Cable sale closing and plan effective date
Feb 25, 2025
Plan administrator files fifth and sixth omnibus claims objections
Key Timeline
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Casa file for bankruptcy?
Management attributed the filing to a liquidity crisis driven by a downturn in cable and telecom capital investment, customer spending delays and losses, heavy 5G research-and-development spending, and debt service that outpaced liquidity. The company had missed a roughly $5.6 million interest payment in March 2024 and held only about $4.2 million of unrestricted cash at filing.
What businesses did Casa sell through the chapter 11 process?
Casa pursued two going-concern dispositions: its Axyom cloud-native 5G core and RAN software assets, sold to Lumine Group, and its cable business assets, sold to CommScope. The Cloud/RAN sale closed first, providing liquidity to fund the rest of the cases.
Who bought Casa's cable business assets, and what was the purchase price?
CommScope was selected as the highest and best bid at $45.1 million, with closing on June 7, 2024. Vecima opened the process as the stalking-horse bidder at $20 million and emerged as backup bidder at $44.95 million.
How were general unsecured creditors treated?
Class 4 general unsecured claims shared a recovery pool negotiated in the committee settlement, funded by $1.6 million in cash, 7.5% of net cable proceeds above the first $20 million, and other defined sources, subject to a $3 million pool cap and a 25% per-claim recovery cap.
Was NetComm included in the U.S. chapter 11 case?
No. NetComm was under a separate Australian voluntary administration and was not part of the U.S. chapter 11 cases. DZS later agreed to acquire NetComm for $7 million at closing plus up to $3 million in earnout consideration.
Who is the claims agent for Casa Systems?
Epiq Corporate Restructuring, LLC serves as the claims and noticing agent. The plan administrator has run serial omnibus claims objections through Epiq's register, which held roughly 133 proofs of claim as of early 2025.
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