David Rubin, a shareholder in the Baton Rouge firm Kantrow Spaht Weaver & Blitzer, has been appointed as the trustee in the Thinkstream bankruptcy case, which a judge on Thursday converted to a voluntary Chapter 11 proceeding.
Rubin, who has been involved in major bankruptcy and restructuring cases involving Entergy New Orleans, Crystal Oil Corp., Winn Dixie Corp., Kmart, Continental Airlines and other companies, will act as the administrator in the case, collecting and liquidating Thinkstream’s assets.
Thinkstream, which provides critical crime-fighting software to nearly 300 law enforcement agencies in Louisiana and others across the nation, owes nearly $10 million to TSB Ventures of Folsom and is said to owe another $6.9 million to First National Bank of Commerce in New Orleans. The latter is sharing lawyers in the case with Thinkstream—Barry Grodsky and Donald Miester Jr. of New Orleans, who will be paid a combined $475 an hour by Thinkstream CEO Barry Bellue.
Another group of creditors from Texas known as the Grossman Group has a court judgment in its favor for $531,762. And an entity called Eleven Hundred Land Company Inc., headed by Taylor Porter managing partner Harry “Skip” Philips Jr., has also identified itself as a creditor, but has not yet disclosed details of that debt.
What remains to be seen is how the bankruptcy will affect the law enforcement agencies relying on Thinkstream’s products. The company maintains the Louisiana Civil and Criminal Information Network, which connects law enforcement, courts and other agencies, allowing them to share criminal and other records in real time. Federal clients include the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Coast Guard, U.S. Marshal, U.S. Probation Office, and Office of the Inspector General, among others.
TSB Ventures indicated in initial court filings that it seeks a “successful reorganization” and wants the company’s workforce and assets to remain intact.
A hearing is scheduled for July 22 to determine whether Thinkstream’s original attorney, Edward Gonzales III, will be allowed to withdraw from the case, as well as to schedule discovery and other matters in the case.
Read more about Thinkstream’s financial challenges in the new Business Report cover story, “Troubled Empire.”
—Penny Font
