Avaya started the year off by announcing it filed for Chapter 11 protection under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, and while the Canadian subsidiary was not part of the move, it too had a tumultuous start. Canadian channel chief Angelo Valentini left the company in January after less than a year in the role, and was replaced by seven-year Avaya veteran Corey Mindel in February. Rejean Bourgault was named managing director and president of sales in February, but left in August to lead Amazon Web Services’ public sector division. David Robertson took on the role in September, and despite not having much time to make a dent just yet, he’s witnessed an Avaya comeback and helped keep Avaya Canada as strong as ever.
restructuring process and was cleared to emerge from Chapter 11 protection by the end of 2017 as a public company. After securing $2.925 billion USD in exit financing, the company was projected to have a $300 million senior secured asset-based lending facility available once out of chapter 11 protection – a significant reduction from the approximately $6 billion of debt owed by the company when it started the financial restructuring.
And as promised, Avaya officially emerged from bankruptcy mid-December and is now listed on the New York Stock Exchange and rang the opening bell on Jan. 17, 2018.