Deal falls through to save Internet broadcasting firm

PORTLAND – BroadcastAmerica.com, which once described itself as the Internet’s largest broadcaster, may be going on the auction block because a deal to save the company fell through.

BroadcastAmerica pinned its hopes on a deal in which it would be sold to an Alabama company, Bowman Investments, but the suitor chose not to make an offer after negotiations through the holidays. Roger A. Clement Jr., BroadcastAmerica’s lawyer, said he will now ask a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge to schedule an auction of BroadcastAmerica’s assets.

Clement said he would seek to have the company sold as a whole instead of breaking up its assets and selling them one by one. In the meantime, the company will look elsewhere for a buyer, Clement said. The company has spoken to a number of possible buyers since filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November.

“We still have a lot of people kicking the tires,” he said. “We’re obviously disappointed that Bowman decided not to submit an offer, but we still have people calling and looking for information.”

At this point, an auction may make the most sense since prospective buyers are reluctant to make an offer without any guidance as to what others may be willing to pay for the company, he said.

An auction would “make everybody who’s interested come to one place and give their final offer as to what they will pay.”

Harold Siagel, the president of Bowman, a subsidiary of Bowman Transportation, said the sides never got as far as talking about the price his company would pay.

“It was just a business decision,” Siagel said. “We decided they weren’t a good fit for what we do. It’s no reflection on them. We thought the people there were really good.”

BroadcastAmerica, which is Maine’s most prominent dot-com company, ran into financial trouble and had more than $4 million in debts when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. But the financial problems continued, and the company announced last month it couldn’t pay its workers. Last week, Clement persuaded Judge James B. Haines Jr. to give the company a chance to strike a deal with Bowman before converting the company’s case from Chapter 11, which gives the company protection from creditors, to a Chapter 7 case in which companies are usually liquidated.

BroadcastAmerica billed itself as the world’s largest Internet broadcaster, airing 750 radio and 70 television stations over the Web.