GT Advanced hopes to cease operations this year; calls contract with Apple "oppressive and burdensome"
The saga involving GT Advanced Technologies' bankruptcy filing continues to take strange turns. One day after signaling its intention to wind down operations and presumably sell whatever assets remain a report today from MacRumors relays that GTAT today filed court documents seeking to free itself from the executed contracts it signed with Apple, calling the terms of the deal "oppressive and burdensome."
The filing reads in part:
Before the Petition Date, on October 21, 2013, GTAT entered into several agreements with or for the benefit of Apple. The agreements shifted the GTAT Group's sapphire-related business model from being primarily an equipment manufacturer/supplier to also being a sapphire materials manufacturers. As discussed in detail in the Supplemental First Day Declaration, the agreements imposed oppressive and burdensome terms and obligations on GTAT.
The filing further articulates that operating under terms of the original business agreement signed with Apple is "no longer a viable business option" for the company. Consequently, GT Advanced is hoping to have its signed agreements declared null and void.
If Apple was caught off-guard by GTAT's bankruptcy filing, one can only imagine how they're reacting to this.
In a second filing made today, GTAT laid out its plans to wind down business operations by December 31, 2014.
