Ligado Networks entered Chapter 11 in January. It has now presented its exit plan to the Delaware Bankruptcy Court. A key portion of the exit scheme is an agreement with AST SpaceMobile for 40 MHz of Ligado’s L-band spectrum, which will enhance AST’s available spectrum over the US and Canada.
The actual exit will take many more months under its reorganization but the documentation states that Ligado’s agreement with AST “for the avoidance of doubt the terms of the AST Definitive Agreements Order shall survive entry of the Confirmation Order”. In essence, this legal text ensures that all parties involved continue to honor their commitments under the AST Definitive Agreements, and these obligations persist even after the restructuring plan is legally confirmed.
The exit plan requires investors and other interested parties to formally enter their claims.
However, another key element of the bankruptcy is a claim by Ligado against London-based Inmarsat (now owned by Viasat of California) and alleging a “deliberate breach of contract” by Inmarsat. The contract was made in 2007 as part of a cooperation agreement between the two. “In exchange for Inmarsat’s efforts and the rights to use portions of Inmarsat’s spectrum bands, Ligado paid Inmarsat over $1.7 billion over a 17-year period, including a one-time lump-sum $250 million “transition payment”, says the Ligado claim.
The complaint seeks a court order requiring Inmarsat to perform its contractual duties, an award of monetary damages to compensate Ligado for Inmarsat’s intentional breaches of the Agreement, and an order requiring Inmarsat to repay the billions Ligado paid and lost due to Inmarsat’s intentional inaction.
Also under review will be Ligado’s legal actions against the US Dept. of Defense, the US Department of Commerce, and the (US) National Telecommunications and Information Administration for their alleged unilateral and unlawful seizure of Ligado’s licensed spectrum.
Ligado said, “On November 18, 2024, the US Court of Federal Claims substantially denied the government’s Motion to Dismiss Ligado’s claims against it, ruling that Ligado’s spectrum license is ‘property’ vis-à-vis the DOD and that the company had properly alleged that the US government engaged in physical, categorical, and regulatory takings of Ligado’s exclusively licensed spectrum without compensation in violation of the Fifth Amendment and the Tucker Act.”
The next formal hearing will be on April 17th at the bankruptcy court in Wilmington, Delaware.
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NOTE: Satnews provides this link to bankruptcy documents filed in court