[Toronto, CANADA] Santa Claus has been good to Look Communications Inc. this holiday season.
The Toronto-based wireless broadband carrier has announced that The Bank of
Nova Scotia and Bank of Montreal have waived any defaults under Look’s $208
million (CDN) revolving credit facility with the banks until January 31, 2001.
Look could use the break. In only the past few months, the company has had to
preempt a public offering, announce plans to restructure its operations, chop over
300 jobs reducing its labor force to approximately 550 employees and admit to
its inability to secure substantial funding.
“We have dedicated significant time and energy over the last nine months to telling
our story to the investment community and working to raise capital in the
traditional ways. The reality is that current conditions in the equity and high yield
debt markets have made it impossible for companies such as ours to secure
financing. The market has clearly told us that it is not prepared to fund our current
plans, so we have no choice but to change our business model,” confessed David
Parkes, president and CEO of Look, in early December.
Since then, Look has shifted its focus from pillaging the pocketbooks of investors
to reducing expenses and selling its wireless high-speed and DSL services to
small and medium-sized businesses.