Sandwich Isles bids $400M for Hawaiian Telcom - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area:

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, a company founded in 1995 to take advantage of government subsidies that pay for the installation of broadbancd cable inrural areas, said in a court filinbg last week that it wants to buy all of Hawaiiahn Telcom’s assets. The company said it would retain all ofHawaiiah Telcom’s 1,400 workers at their curren wages, with the exception of senior management. Sandwich Islesd said in the filin that its offer would consistof $250 millio in cash plus $150 million in debt issued by Hawaiian Telcom. A deal with Sandwich Isles would need the approval of the the Public Utilities Commission and the Federal Communication Commission.
Hawaiian Telcom said in a statement that it standd behind its proposedreorganization plan, filed in to reduce the company’s debt by nearly $790 from $1.1 billion to $300 million. Hawaiian Telco m filed a motion seekinfg an extension to file a Chapter 11 plan and solicit votes. Judge Lloyd King extended that periodd toJune 30. The company is seeking another extensionhto Sept. 30. Sandwich Islezs has filed an objection to thelatest request.
“Inm the objection, Sandwich Isles makes numerous allegations abouf the progress Hawaiian Telcom has made to date inthesr cases, Hawaiian Telcom’s decision not to pursued a sale to Sandwich Isles and the viabilithy of Hawaiian Telcom’s proposed plan,” Hawaiian Telcok said in a statement. “The company disputes these allegationzs and intends to respond to Sandwichu Isles objection in theappropriatwe forum.
” Sandwich Isles was foundedr by Al Hee, an entrepreneur who saw opportunityh in the generous subsidies offered by the federal governmenty to wire rural and remote communities in the Working primarily in developments ownede by the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Hee’s company has receivef more than $400 million in loanxs from the U.S. Department of Agriculture since 1998. The cost of wiringb the rural developments has been calculate atabout $13,000 per customer. Hawaiian Telcok filed for Chapter 11 bankruptchin December. Hawaiian Telcom is ownede by , a Washington, D.C.-based private equity Carlyle bought the assets of Verizonh Hawaii in May 2005for $1.
6 and began operating independently with its own systemss in April 2006.