Posted: Mon, Mar 26, 2001, 11:04 AM ET (1604 GMT)
Satellite telecommunications companies Teledesic and New ICO have put off plans to merge, possibly permanently, according to regulatory filings earlier this month. The two companies announced last year that each would merge with ICO-Teledesic Global, a holding company established by Teledesic cofounder Craig McCaw. However, in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing March 16, New ICO — the successor to the original ICO, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 1999 — and Teledesic said they were withdrawing an earlier filing for the mergers, noting "dramatically different financial market conditions" and changes to each company's business plans. A New ICO release said that the boards of New ICO, Teledesic, and ICO-Teledesic Global would "continue to consider the status of the mergers and whether one or both will proceed." The news of the delayed merger was not widely reported prior to an article in SPACEandTECH, with no mention of the announcement at all on Teledesic's web site.

Related Links:

•  SPACEandTECH article
•  New ICO statement, via SEC