January 29, 2002 -- Global Crossing (GX) said it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in order to launch a restructuring of its balance sheet. In conjunction with the restructuring, the company announced that it has signed a letter of intent with Hutchison Whampoa Limited and Singapore Technologies Telemedia Pte. Ltd. for a $750 million cash investment for a joint majority stake in the company's equity in connection with a restructuring of the company's balance sheet. In order to begin the restructuring process, Global Crossing and certain of its affiliates commenced Chapter 11 cases in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York and coordinated proceedings in the Supreme Court of Bermuda.

Under the terms of the proposed investment, which is conditional on, among other things, the confirmation of a plan of reorganization by the courts before the end of August 2002, creditors would share in a combination of cash, new debt, and new equity in the restructured company. Existing common equity and preferred shareholders would not participate in the new capital structure.

John Legere, Chief Executive Officer of Global Crossing stated, "We believe this new equity investment from parties as strong as Hutchison Whampoa and Singapore Technologies Telemedia validates our confidence in the strong future of our company. This investment, along with the financial and operational restructuring that we're implementing, will strengthen our balance sheet and enable Global Crossing to build a sustainable business upon its existing unmatched global network. With this restructuring, we believe we can become the global leader providing networking services among the world's top 200 cities to global enterprises and carriers."

Legere said that business would continue as usual during the restructuring process. Employees will continue to be paid their wages and other benefits without interruption. Worldwide operations will be unaffected by the filing and customers will not experience any changes in their service.

"Ours is a balance sheet issue, not an operational one," said Legere. "and today's actions are intended to directly address this issue. Even with the financial uncertainty we've recently experienced, customers have continued to choose our network over many others. With this restructuring, we'll put financial uncertainty behind us and the power of our network will once again become the primary factor in the minds of our customers.

"With a strengthened balance sheet and reduced debt, we are confident that Global Crossing will be in an excellent position to take advantage of its unique global network, growing customer base, and outstanding service capabilities to create substantial value in the coming years. We are committed to an expedited restructuring process," said Legere.

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