Out for blood? Creditors want to depose Apple exec Jeff Williams
In November Apple Inc. was compelled under a protective court order to give creditors of bankrupt sapphire supplier GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (GTAT) access to sensitive documents pertaining to the deal between the two companies. Now those same creditors are seeking access to Apple executive Jeff Williams (pictured right).
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, GTAT creditors want the right to question Williams over his role in the critical settlement agreement between Apple and GTAT.
In a Monday filing with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Hampshire, GTAT’s official committee of unsecured creditors and a group of bondholders said Apple Senior Vice President of Operations Jeff Williams should be made available for a “short, half-day deposition.”
Williams, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Operations, heads up the team responsible for end-to-end supply chain management. It is clear GTAT’s creditors feel he is a vital part of the equation. In their filings requesting the deposition the creditors said, “Based on documents produced by Apple, it is clear that Williams played an important, substantial and hands-on role in managing the relationship between GTAT and Apple in connection with the matters that are directly relevant to the Apple settlement motion.”
This is the latest filing by GTAT creditors in their effort to examine the settlement between GTAT and Apple in which they feel GTAT may have “gotten too little.” Under the current settlement agreement GTAT has to repay Apple $439 million as it sells more than 2,000 sapphire furnaces over the next four years. The settlement awaits approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
If approved, the settlement will see Apple first in line to receive money from the GTAT bankruptcy and would exclude GTAT from taking any legal action against Apple for breach of contract or to seek a reduced repayment on the money it borrowed from Apple. This is a situation other creditors and bondholders are trying to avoid at all costs.
According to the lawyers representing the committee and bondholders, Apple is yet to comply with requests to make Williams available.
Image via Apple
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