7 January 1999: US-based SpecTran Corp. said it had amended its loans with Fleet Bank and the holders of SpecTran“s long-term debt, reversing an earlier situation where it was in violation of its con…
7 January 1999: US-based SpecTran Corp. said it had amended its loans with Fleet Bank and the holders of SpecTran“s long-term debt, reversing an earlier situation where it was in violation of its contracts. The developer of glass optical fibres and value-added fibre products, however, warned that meeting its debt obligations in the future were dependent on several factors, including future sales that are driven by what it described as fluctuating market conditions. Under its new arrangement, the company said it remedied all earlier violations of its original agreement by paying past due balances. It stressed, though, that making payments in the future depends on several factors such as projected sales, profit levels. Those factors are driven by still fluctuating marketplace conditions, cost cuts currently under way and the success of its plan to expand its single-mode optic fibre production in 1999. SpecTran said it would attempt to renegotiate with lenders, if it again violates its agreements. Meanwhile, the company announced that it and Lucent Technologies have signed a patent licensing agreement exchanging worldwide, non-exclusive rights to certain optical fibre patents. Under the agreement, SpecTran is licensed by Lucent to make optical fibre at SpecTran“s existing factories for use, sale and export worldwide. SpecTran will pay Lucent a US$ 4 million license fee in installments and, beginning in 2000, a royalty on sales.