http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/ ... bankruptcy
ATARI : UPDATE ON CURRENT SITUATION AND REVENUES FOR THE 3RD QUARTER OF FY 2012/2013Former Atari Interactive CEO Frederic Chesnais has decided to take a 25.23% stake in the company in a bid to save it from bankruptcy, Atari announced Tuesday.
He will pay principle shareholder BlueBay just 400 euros for 7,451,122 Atari shares, and for mandatory convertible bonds that give him access to another 5,528,736 shares.
Given the urgency of the situation, Chesnais' investment company Ker Ventures also agreed to grant a 250,000 euros in short-term cash financing to European parent company Atari SA, without waiting for the completion of the transaction, and to postpone interest due on the bonds until the end of September, the company said.
The iconic game company filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. in January in an effort to separate operations from parent company Atari SA, which is based in France and has also filed for bankruptcy protection. Atari had to file for bankruptcy protection because it was unable to find a replacement for BlueBay, its principal shareholder, which announced its intention to sell its shares in the company in 2010.
Besides backing from Ker Ventures, Atari also received an investment from the Alden Fund, a group that specializes in turning around companies. Alden will acquire a 21 million euro company loan to Atari from BlueBay. The Alden Fund also made available cash financing of US$5 million to the Atari group's U.S. subsidiaries, Atari Inc., Atari Interactive Inc., California US Holding, Inc. and Humongous, Inc.
An initial loan of $2 million has already been made available to the U.S. subsidiaries, Atari said. The remaining $3 million will be available to the subsidiaries under additional conditions including the entry of a final order at a court hearing to be held on Feb. 14, it added.
"It's quite good news for Atari that new shareholders can be found," a company spokesman said. But the situation remains very difficult for the company because of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing in the U.S., he added. "The judge in the U.S. will play a very important role in the future of the company," he said.
Chesnais was appointed to the position of CEO of Atari SA for a nominal compensation of 1,000 euros a month payable at the termination of the U.S. bankruptcy procedure. Upon closing of the transaction of the share capital, the board has resolved to elect Chesnais as chairman, the company said. Chesnais, who is French and lives in New York, has a strong background in the videogame industry. He was the CEO of Atari Interactive, as well as the CFO and Deputy Operating Officer for the Atari Group, where he helped create and launch many games.
"I made this move because I love the team, I know about games, I love the brand and in the past we have all spent nights and days to make it shine," Chesnais said in a statement, adding that he didn't hesitate for one second when he heard the bad news. He plans to work hard to seek the financing needed for Atari: "I am just given a few weeks to put the company back on track and I have to give it a try," he said.
He will replace Gene Davis, who was named CEO of Atari SA following BlueBay's announcement of its intention to sell its shares. Davis will become CEO of Atari Inc. in order to concentrate on the U.S. bankruptcy protection procedure.
http://pdf.reuters.com/htmlnews/8knews. ... 7:nHUGcWSPUPDATE ON CURRENT SITUATION
AND REVENUES FOR THE 3RD QUARTER OF FY 2012/2013
New Atari SA management continues to assess the situation and evaluates its options
Revenues fall 64% in third quarter (October 1 to December 31, 2012) and 51% over 9 months (March 1 to December 31, 2012)
While visibility is reduced current activities are strictly limited to the operation of the existing catalog
All solutions implemented will seek to meet the best interests of the Company and all of its shareholders
Paris, France, February 17, 2013 - On February 5, 2013 Atari SA (the "Company") announced the arrival of new shareholders, Ker Ventures and Alden Capital, and the appointment of Frederic Chesnais as CEO of Atari SA. Since then, new Atari SA management has been conducting a detailed assessment of the situation of the Group to evaluate the various options and their implementation. This will be the subject of a subsequent communication.
In the meantime, the Group releases its revenues for the quarter ended December 31, 2012 and an update on the status of the Chapter 11 proceedings of the U.S. subsidiaries, proceedings which do not apply to the Group's French companies.
Q3 2012/2013 (October 1 to December 31, 2012) revenues down 64%
Revenues for the quarter ended December 31, 2012 was generated prior to the Chapter 11 filings in the United States, the arrival of the new shareholders and the change of directors. During this particularly difficult quarter, the sharp decline in revenues was mainly due to the lack of financial resources:
The decrease in digital revenues (77% of the total revenue, -32%) is due to the interruption of the mobile and online games launch plan in light of the lack of resources to promote this type of games.
The decline in retail and other revenues (23% of Group sales, -81%) continues to reflect the Group's intention to withdraw from this low margins market segment.
The absence of licensing agreements is linked to the difficulties encountered during the period.
Q3 2012/2013 Q3 2011/2012 Change Change
€m % of revenues €m % of revenues €m %
Digital 3.0 76.9% 4.4 40.0% -1.4 -31.8%
Licensing 0.0 0.0% 1.8 16.4% -1.8 -100.0%
Retail and others 0.9 23.1% 4.8 43.6% -3.9 -81.3%
Total revenues* 3.9 100.0% 11.0 100.0% -7.1 -64.5%
* Since FY 2011/2012 the Company decided, in conjunction with the Company's evaluation of its segments, to change the presentation of the "digital revenues", and that the mobile and social portions of the "Digital" segment should be reflected on a gross basis. For consistency of presentation purposes the Company has reflected the respective digital distribution revenues in the same manner its accounts accordingly.
For the current quarter (ending on March 31, 2013) and the following months, the operations are exclusively focused on the existing catalog and potential distribution agreements in Europe. In light of the current context, the outlook[1] previously published by the Company has not yet been updated.
9 months 2012/2013 (March 1 to December 31, 2012) revenues down 51%
FYI
