Enter your Email To Join Us For Free Today!

* Files pre-packaged bankruptcy

* Units outside North America not included in filing

* Lists assets of $555 mln and debt of $370 mln

* Vendors and suppliers to be paid in full
(Recasts; adds details)

Nov 20 (Reuters) – GSI Group Inc (GSIG.PK), a supplier of
precision technology and semiconductor systems, filed for
bankruptcy protection in a Delaware court on Friday as part of
a pre-arranged plan that would hand over control of the company
to certain creditors.

Funds affiliated with Goldman Sachs Asset Management,
Tennenbaum Capital Partners LLC and Highbridge Capital
Management LLC together are expected to own a majority stake in
the reorganized company, GSI said in a statement.

The company said it will exchange its $210 million senior
notes for $95 million secured loan due August 2014 and about
74.3 percent of its equity, GSI said in a statement.

“While GSI’s debt has to be restructured as a result of the
protracted economic downturn, the company remains operationally
strong with adequate cash on hand to meet its operational
needs,” Chief Executive Sergio Edelstein said.

As of Oct. 31, the company said it had cash and cash
equivalents of about $57 million and about $14 million of
auction rate securities at fair market value.

GSI added that the restructuring deal provides for all
vendors and suppliers to be paid in full and that its
subsidiaries outside North America were not included in the
filing.

In its Chapter 11 petition, the company listed total assets
of $555 million and total debt of $370 million, as of Nov. 6.

The company had earlier restated results for fiscal years
2004 through 2008, following a review of sales transactions in
its semiconductor systems segment and other sales transactions.

Earlier this month, GSI was delisted from Nasdaq for
failing to comply with its listing requirements.

The case is In re: GSI Group Inc, U.S. Bankruptcy Court
District of Delaware (Delaware), No. 09-14110.
(Reporting by Santosh Nadgir, Ajay Kamalakaran and Supantha
Mukherjee in Bangalore; Editing by John Stonestreet, Anne
Pallivathuckal)