May 29, 2008 — The auction of Vitelco and Innovative Cablevision scheduled for June 16 has been suspended indefinitely to get buyers more clarity about the company's financial condition, said E. Clarke Garnett, Innovative Communications interim president and chief executive officer.
The two companies are subsidiaries of ICC, which is in the midst of Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. (See "Trustee Briefs PSC on Sale of ICC Companies.")
The delay was discussed during a Chapter 11 hearing in Pittsburgh Wednesday, Garnett said Thursday.
"The sale has been put on hold," he said. "This is pretty normal. These sales are always scheduled to happen quickly, then there are inevitable delays. … We don't know the time frame for the sale right now."
The V.I. Public Services Commission has begun a preliminary review of Vitelco's rates, which PSC Chairman Joseph Boschulte characterized in a recent phone interview as an effort to give potential purchasers a notion of what to expect.
"This is not a full review," Boschulte said. "It is more, 'Here we are, here is what our investigation says, a pro forma rate would be like this.'"
Asked if the review might delay the sale, Boschulte said the PSC did not have power over the timing of the sale and was trying to provide information about what investors might expect from the PSC. The PSC is required by law to perform a rate review every five years and the review is now due, he said.
Asked if the delay resulted from the PSC's rate review, Garnett said the PSC had to perform a review by law and the information from a review would be helpful to buyers. He did not confirm or deny that the rate review was the reason for the delay.
"We want to get clarification and answers on a lot of issues," he said.
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