Subj:  Re: "Deal clears the way for Commodore Auction"
Date:  Sun, Mar 12, 1995 6:16 PM EDT
From:  zim@netaxs.com
To: donhicks@aol.com
CC: zim@netaxs.com (Bill Zimmer)

> Bill,
> Would you please fax a copy of the article to Amazing Computing at 1 508
> 675 6002. Or, if you have time email the contents in a reply to this
> request

---------------- begin Phila. Inquirer article ----------------
Philadelphia Inquirer Saturday, March 11, 1995

"Deal clears the way for Commodore auction"

A German computer company agreed to pay up to $6 million for the assets.
Others will get a chance to bid.

By Dan Stets
Inquirer Staff Writer

The Bahamian liquidators of Commodore International Ltd. reached an 
agreement with a German computer company yesterday that sets the stage 
for an auction of Commodore's assets.

Under the agreement, Escom AG agreed to pay the liquidators up to $6 
million for the assets that the liquidators now control.

The $6 million is in addition to $1.4 million that Escom already paid to 
the bankruptcy trustee of Commodore's German subsidiary.

The liquidators now plan to schedule an auction at which other bidders 
would have a chance to outbid Escom's offer for the company.

Escom, Germany's second-largest computer company, also agreed to 
surrender the German trademark if it is outbid for the rest of the 
company, Bahamian liquidator Franklyn Wilson said yesterday.

Escom's offer includes $3.5 million for Commodore's core assets, an 
additional $1 million for its German assets, $500,000 for Dutch assets 
and $1 million for the manufacturing inventory remaining in the 
Philippines, where Commodore used to build its computers.

Escom purchased a key Commodore trademark from the bankruptcy trustee of 
Commodore's Germany subsidiary, Commodore Bueromaschinen, in February.

Commodore, which was registered in the Bahamas, had about 40 subsidiaries
worldwide.  Its North American headquarters was in West Chester.

The German purchase outraged U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge James L. Garrity 
Jr., who had threatened to fine the German subsidiary and the German 
trustee, Bernard Hembach, $5,000 a day each if the sale is not reversed.

Without the German trademark, other bidders would have lost interest in 
the company because Germany accounted for up to one-third of its sales, 
Wilson told the U.S. court.

However, Wilson said Escom now had agreed not only to surrender the 
German trademark to a higher bidder, but also to pay liquidators of the 
parent company an extra $1 million for the German assets if Escom comes 
out the winner in the auction.

According to Wilson, Escom backed down because of the U.S. Bankruptcy 
Court's threat of legal action against the German trustee.

Escom has agreed to pay $4.5 million to the Bahamian liquidators 
unconditionally, but will pay the remaining $1.5 million only if the 
liquidators can deliver the Dutch and Philippine assets, Wilson said.

"The numbers aren't what we would like to see, but we expect others to 
come and bid up the price," Wilson said.

Alex Amor, president of Creative Equipment International of Miami, said 
yesterday that he planned to enter the auction providing the Escom deal 
is as Wilson described it.

If the German trademark is not available, his plans would most likely 
change, Amor said.

He said that last year he had been willing to pay $24 million for 
Commodore's remains but had not been able to structure a deal with 
Wilson.  The liquidator had difficulty determining just what assets of 
Commodore's could be delivered to a buyer.

The delay had severely diminished the worth of the assets, Amor said.

Escom itself had been willing to pay $12 million for Commodore back in 
September, according to Carlene J. Gatting, the company's U.S. attorney.

Commodore filed for liquidation in the Bahamas in May, but the process 
has been delayed, not only by a hunt for the company's assets, but also by 
a dispute between the Bahamian liquidators and the company's North 
American creditors, who are owed more than $100 million.

The creditors had wanted the liquidation to be handled by the bankruptcy 
court in New York instead of the Bahamas.  Under an agreement already 
approved by the New York court, the liquidation is to be coordinated 
between the two jurisdictions.  The Bahamian court is expected to act on 
that agreement next week.

-30-
-------------------- end Phila. Inquirer article -------------------

Bill Zimmer
zim@ibx.com - work
zim@netaxs.com - evenings & weekends



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Subject: Re: "Deal clears the way for Commodore Auction"
To: donhicks@aol.com
Date: Sun, 12 Mar 1995 12:07:57 -0500 (EST)
Cc: zim@netaxs.com (Bill Zimmer)
In-Reply-To: <9503112205.AA09447@newsbf02.news.aol.com> from "donhicks@aol.com" at Mar 11, 95 05:05:19 pm
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