No Falcone plan on LightSquared
The tug-of-war between hedge-fund titan Phil Falcone and satellite mogul Charlie Ergen over the future of wireless start-up LightSquared is starting to feel like a game of Jedi mind tricks.
Falcone, founder of Harbinger Capital Partners, is on track to let Monday’s deadline — ending his exclusive rights to LightSquared — come and go without a plan, The Post has learned.
Harbinger currently has exclusive rights to submit a restructuring plan only until July 15.
Without a plan, Falcone gives his nemesis Ergen, the Dish Network chief, free rein to try to take over LightSquared. Ergen is expected to offer $2 billion for certain LightSquared assets.
If that happens, it should be game-over for Falcone. But it isn’t — at least not yet.
Indeed, Falcone is expected to pressure the bankruptcy judge to block any plan Ergen puts forth by arguing that he’s a competitor who has been seeking to muck up Harbinger’s restructuring efforts from the start so he can buy LightSquared on the cheap.
In addition to his plan to bid $2 billion for assets, Ergen also owns roughly $1 billion of LightSquared’s $1.7 billion secured loan, which he started buying on the sly last year through a hedge fund he controls.
Ergen recently came out of the closet with his dealings, and in June he joined LightSquared’s ad hoc secured creditors group, which controls $1.3 billion of the $1.7 billion bank loan.
If the judge accepts Ergen as a viable bidder, Falcone will need to show he has the cash to make a counteroffer.
Harbinger has hired Jefferies to help it raise at least $2 billion in “exit” capital. A source told The Post the bank recently sweetened what it’s promising investors, including 15-percent equity stakes, to attract funding.
A spokesman for Jefferies didn’t respond to a request for comment.