Update: Zenith Infotech vs. Bondholder Court Case

Bondholders have asked the Bombay High Court to liquidate Zenith Infotech in a bid to recover money from the company, according to Business Standard India. But here’s a key point MSPs also need to keep in mind: The detailed article, published hours ago, pointed out that Zenith Infotech still has deep pockets and can afford to repay the bond holders. However, Zenith Infotech and the bondholders have so far failed to reach an agreement on the debt repayment terms.

Zenith Infotech’s troubles with bondholders started in September 2011, when the cloud storage, backup and disaster recovery (BDR) company failed to meet a bond payment deadline. Debt holders took Zenith Infotech to court in late 2011, but CEO Akash Saraf has stated — multiple times — that the company remains strong and financially solvent. A few days ago, Zenith Infotech announced an updated BDR platform that includes new virtualization capabilities — called Zenith BDR-G12.

Still, it sounds like bondholders have become frustrated with their pursuit of debt payments from Zenith Infotech. Business Standard India reported on February 27 (India time):

“Lenders of business continuity provider Zenith Infotech have moved the Bombay High Court with a plea to liquidate the city-based company to enable the recovery of Rs 450 crore due to them. Bank of New York Mellon, the trustee of these lenders who hold two tranches of FCCBs (foreign currency convertible bonds), moved a winding-up petition after failing in their earlier efforts to recover the dues.”

Deeper within the article, Business Standard India reported that Zenith Infotech has enough cash to repay the bondholders, and that Zenith Infotech is still open to additional negotiations.The court has since adjourned the case until the first week of March, according to Business Standard India.

Two interesting side-notes from The Business Standard India article:

• The financial relationship between Zenith Infotech and Vu Telepresence is briefly mentioned.
• Summit Partners apparently paid $55 million to acquire an 85 percent stake in Zenith RMM (now Continuum) from Zenith Infotech.

Generally speaking, Continuum has effectively distanced itself from the Zenith Infotech-bondholder debate.