Aereo confirms liquidation plan after Supreme Court-driven shutdown
Aereo filed Chapter 11 in SDNY on November 20, 2014 after the Supreme Court’s June 25, 2014 copyright ruling and an October 23, 2014 injunction shut down its internet TV retransmission business. The petition listed 100-199 creditors and $1 million-$10 million each of assets and liabilities, while CFO Ramon Rivera’s first-day declaration reported about $20.5 million of assets, $4.2 million of undisputed liabilities, no secured debt, $95.6 million of venture equity raised, 74 layoffs, and 14 remaining employees supporting the sale process source filing source filing.
The liquidation path was set by an asset sale process that contacted more than 100 potential buyers, produced 29 NDAs, and ended with TiVo buying trademarks, domains and customer lists for $1.0 million, RPX buying patents for $225,000, and Alliance Technology Solutions buying equipment for $320,000 source filing. The court confirmed the amended plan by order signed June 10 and entered June 12, 2015: Classes 1-3 were unimpaired, Class 4 general unsecured creditors voted to accept, Class 5 subordinated/broadcaster claims were not expected to receive distributions, and Lawton Bloom of Argus became liquidation trustee as Aereo moved toward dissolution source filing.
