Bain-owned Schenectady cable-box company files for bankruptcy

PHOTOGRAPHER: The Associated Press

A cable-box repair company owned by the private equity firm Bain Capital is filing for bankruptcy protection but says no jobs will be impacted.

Contec Holdings Ltd. said Thursday it will continue to operate as usual during its Chapter 11 reorganization. The Schenectady-based company expects to complete the process and reduce long-term debt within 60 days.

The company’s reorganization plan was filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. It said that lenders have agreed to provide a $25 million credit facility and $35 million in debtor-in-possession financing as part of the reorganization, which will let it make payments to employees and suppliers.

Contec employed 85 workers in the Schenectady office after it ended production at its 50,000-square-foot Schenectady facility and laid off 132 workers in July 2009. The job losses were the result of pricing pressures from customers and a drop in orders, the company said at the time.

The 85 workers retained were for personnel, information technology, engineering, human resources and other support functions. That number is believed to be unchanged.

A spokeswoman for Contec declined to comment on the filing to The Daily Gazette on Thursday. A representative of Bain Capital did not immediately return a call to The Associated Press.

Bain invested in Contec, which repairs more than 2 million cable set top boxes a year, in 2008.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was picked to head Bain Capital in 1984, after the firm was spun off from Bain & Co. Romney left Bain Capital in 1999.

During his campaign, Romney has pointed to his success at Bain as proof of his business acumen and leadership ability. The Obama campaign has accused Romney of being a job destroyer because of the factories that Bain closed and the jobs it moved overseas.

Romney has said he left Bain in early 1999, shortly before the firm invested in companies that were pioneers of job outsourcing. Romney says he played no role in those transactions and decisions.

Representatives for Contec Holdings and Bain Capital did not immediately return calls for comment.