The case centres around Windstream’s spinoff of its telecom infrastructure into a publicly listed company called Uniti Group, which would then lease the operations back to the main company. Windstream performed the transaction in a way it thought would not violate debt terms that prohibited any “sale and leaseback” transaction. Two years after the sale, Aurelius challenged the deal, after buying Winstream bonds worth roughtly USD 300 million. The judge ruled that the spinoff constituted a debt default. Another debt exchange by Windstream in 2017 was also seen as violating different terms of the debt.
Winstream said it is evaluating all of its options, including post-trial motions and an appeal. The company now expects to report its results by 18 March.
