Turin bids on White Rock

Turin Networks has bid about $3 million for most of the assets of White Rock Networks, according to the Dallas Business Journal.

A vendor of multiservice provisioning platforms (MSPPs), White Rock entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late August, suspending its operations and dismissing all but about 10 of its 80 U.S. employees. White Rock’s assets will be auctioned off in bankruptcy court on October 13, 2006. The company says it has spoken with at least four other interested parties.

Turin’s offer does not include White Rock’s wholly owned subsidiary in Shanghai, China, which employs about 70 people and comprises the majority of White Rock’s engineering staff. White Rock has requested a separate auction to sell its Shanghai assets, which hasn’t received any other bids. The court will conduct a hearing on October 10 to consider White Rock’s request.

Nearly $2 million of White Rock’s purchase price will go to repaying two White Rock investors, the Journal reported: Silicon Valley Bank and Solectron. White Rock owes another $2 million to other creditors. Equipment vendor Tellabs also invested an unknown sum in White Rock in 2003, as part of an original equipment manufacturer agreement between the two. But that relationship waned over time.

In its seven-year life, White Rock collected about $60 million in revenue from 140 customers and amassed $172 million in five rounds of funding.

Turin--like White Rock, a start-up maker of MSPPs with crossconnect functions--recently announced plans to increase its 150-person workforce by 15% to 20% next year. White Rock has indicated that Turin may be interested in hiring some of the employees White Rock dismissed in late August.