Viatel, Inc. (OTC: VYTLQ) announced it has filed a motion with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware seeking approval of bidding procedures to be employed in the conduct of an auction to sell all of the Company's remaining assets -- either as a whole or in segments. These assets consist principally of Viatel's 8,700-route kilometer, pan-European, fiber-optic network and its trans-Atlantic cable system.
The businesses previously conducted by Viatel in the U.K.-- including the U.K. link to its network on the European continent -- are now under the control of a court-appointed administrator. However, the Company characterized its relationship with the Administrator as constructive and said it anticipates that a purchaser of the network assets on the Continent would also be able to reach an agreement with the Administrator to acquire the U.K. link.
The Company cautioned that the amount of recovery for U.S. creditors remains speculative. In its filing, the Company said that if no buyers participated in the auction that it was likely the network would be liquidated piecemeal under the laws of the European jurisdictions in which the assets are located.