NBI Inc, trading under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, has come up with a reorganisation plan to pay off its debts mainly with equity, which will leave the existing shareholders with a mere 2% of the company. The Boulder, Colorado firm, which started out making shared logic word processors but is now primarily trying to exploit its software on other vendors’ hardware, says that the plan, which involved paying off most of the $49m it owes with new shares, says that its creditors committee has agreed to the plan, which has to be approved by the bankruptcy court in Denver before the company can get its discharge. Under the plan, debenture holders owed about $30m would get about 75% of the new shares to be issued; holders of $7.7m of convertible notes woud get 14.5%; senior secured creditors owed $2.5m would get 3.5% of the shares, $300,000 in cash and $520,000 in six-year notes. Current preferred holders would get 5%, leaving 2% for the people that owned the company until it went bankrupt. NBI’s problems are exacerbated by the need to pay the Internal Revenue Service $12.8m over six years to settle tax claims covering 1980 to 1988.
