Audio Business News

In a tersely worded press release, Carver Corporation announced that on Wednesday, May 12, 1999 it filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 in United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Washington. The cause of the filing was "an accumulation of unpaid debt and resulting legal actions filed by creditors. These actions created the prospect of an inequitable distribution of payment to creditors and prevented the Company from being able to operate as a functioning business entity. In October of 1998, the Company ran out of working capital and laid off the remainder of its workforce. Subsequently, at the invitation of the Board of Directors, Robert W. Carver, the founder of the Company and former CEO, stepped in to take over."

The company also says that the "Board of Carver Corporation found it necessary to seek protection under federal bankruptcy laws in order for the Company to move ahead and reestablish itself as a viable entity in the marketplace. The Company intends to reorganize for the long-term success of the Carver brand name, profitability for shareholders, and quality audio product for its faithful customers."

Also last week, Polk Audio, Inc. announced that its common stock will be delisted from trading on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) "due to the fact that the Company's common stock no longer meets the distribution requirements for continued listing on AMEX." In a statement, Polk says that AMEX has informed the company that the last day for trading of Polk common stock on AMEX was Friday, May 21, 1999.

According to Polk, following the AMEX delisting, the company is terminating the registration of its common stock under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and will no longer be a public reporting company. The company also says that it recently completed a tender offer in which it purchased 574,967 shares of its common stock for $12.00 per share. The announcement also stated that, "following the delisting and deregistration of the common stock, the company reserves the right to engage in a subsequent merger, reverse stock split, or other corporate transaction that will result in certain shares that were not tendered being converted into cash."

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