Charter Hires Bankruptcy Lawyer

Move Comes As Debt Payment Deadline Nears

By Multichannel News Staff -- Multichannel News, 2/8/2009 5:50:00 AM

Charter Communications has hired a lawyer with expertise in assisting corporations through bankruptcy reorganizations, according to published reports.

Greg Doody, who worked with power company Calpine through its restructuring from 2006 to August 2008, is now advising Charter, Reuters and Bloomberg reported Friday. Both noted that former Calpine CEO Robert May is on Charter's board; in 2005, May also served as interim CEO of Charter before the MSO hired Neil Smit in August of that year.

In December, Charter asked investment bank Lazard LLC to initiate discussions with bondholders about restructuring the debt. Last month the MSO hired Kirkland & Ellis, a law firm that specializes in bankruptcy, according to reports.

Charter, the fourth-biggest U.S. cable operator, missed a $73.7 million interest payment on about $1.2 billion in bond debt that was due on Jan. 14. The company has until Feb. 15 to make the payment before defaulting.

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• Charter wants to charge me $35 to discontinue my cable tv. I was NEVER advised about that! Is this legal? I changed companies because they did not have the channels I wanted and so I guess this is the punishment, even tho I did keep their high speed internet. Is this legal? How do I fight this? They say it's a new "roll out" fee because the truck has to come turn off the signal, even if I turn in my receivers! To me that is their cost of doing business, not mine. I am willing to take the receivers in and will probably do that today anyway. They said they would pick them up when the truck comes or I could do that.

  
  Pam Clark - 8/18/2009 12:34:18 PM EDT
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