The Delaware Bankruptcy Court, which is overseeing startup satellite services provider ProtoStar Ltd.’s Chapter 11 case, has set an Oct. 8 deadline for initial bids from parties seeking to purchase the ProtoStar 1 and ProtoStar 2 telecommunications satellites. An open auction of ProtoStar’s assets is scheduled for Oct. 14 at the New York offices of law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP.
ProtoStar 1 and ProtoStar 2 will be auctioned in separate procedures.
Bidders will be forced to disclose their identities to one another, with bids beginning at the highest price offered in the pre-auction submissions sent in by prospective buyers. Each buyer is required to include in its pre-auction bid a bank check equivalent to 10 percent of its initial bid.
The bankruptcy court is expected to review the results of the auction by Oct. 22 to approve the sale.
ProtoStar, based in San Francisco and Bermuda, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection July 29. The company’s two satellites, launched in 2008 and 2009, are intended to provide direct-broadcast television in Asia.
In setting the bidding procedures, the court accepted requests by ProtoStar 2 satellite-builder Boeing Satellite Systems and ProtoStar 1 customer Agrani Satellite Services Ltd. of India that their contracts with ProtoStar be subject to limited disclosure to bidders.
