Connexion Files for Liquidation

Contract cable installer Connexion Inc. has filed for Chapter 7 liquidation after it apparently couldn’t cut a deal with its lenders.

Operating under the MetroTec Communications Inc. and General Fiber Communications Inc. names, Connexion provides installations and upgrades for several top cable MSOs such as Adelphia Communications Corp., Cablevision Systems Corp., Charter Communications Inc. Comcast Corp., Cox Communications Inc. and Time Warner Cable.

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection July 6 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District in Brooklyn, N.Y., citing assets of $45.5 million and liabilities of $84.7 million. The next day, it requested that the case be converted to a Chapter 7 liquidation. That request was granted July 8.

According to the Bankruptcy Court documents, Connexion performed about 2 million installs per year and fielded about 200,000 service calls per month for customers. The company has about 900 employees in 14 offices in nine states, according to court documents.

New York-based distressed-debt investor Cerberus Capital Management L.P. was the sole owner of Connexion’s parent, GFCI LLC.

According to published reports, the reason for the conversion to Chapter 7 was that Connexion could not reach a deal with its banks.