It has been about three months now since the powerhouse phone card company Vivaro Corporation and it's child companies STI Prepaid LLC, Epana and Kare Distribution entered into chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (filed Sept 5th 2012). The company continues to operate but it is not clear as to how long they can continue to operate in this environment as some of their distributors begin to withhold payments (more about this later). Unfortunately since the initial filing news has been limited and the company representatives mostly tight lipped so I thought I would put out a post with all of the updates I could provide.
- In early September, Vivaro applied for and was granted by the courts the ability to continue to honor it's cards already in the channel.
- In mid September, Vivaro made it known that it was open to a buyout.
- In late September, Gustavo M. De la Garza the President of Vivaro Corporation, steps down from his position as chairman of The American PrePaid Phonecall Association (APPPA) and is replaced by Pete Pattullo, CEO of Network IP.
- According to an article in the Prepaid Press from October, Red Cherry/Sigma Prepaid took over distribution for Vivaro's NY/NJ cards and in contrast to what you would expect with a company in bankruptcy, Vivaro is giving more minutes than advertised in some cases. Most likely to help continue the consumer and distributor trust in their products.
- In early November, Vivaro sued one of it's major distributors Raza Communications over what it claims is $7.4 million in missed payments. No doubt more of these type of lawsuits will follow!
- Numerous lawsuits filed from the companies owed monies are in process against Vivaro.
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