Bridge saved by last-minute revenue stream

Its main backer, New York finance house Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, is to stump up an immediate $150m to tide the company over its reorganisation and basically 'forget' another $400m in debt.

Other creditors will see the $340m debt converted to equity (shares), while shareholders will see their holdings effectively eliminated. Dow Jones last month wrote off its $150m stake and ADP did the same for half of its notional $90m equity.

Bridge hopes to raise another $400m through sale of assets and will continue to service its customers.

The company last week was threatened with involuntary bankruptcy when disgruntled shareholder, Texas-based Highland Capital Management, applied to the courts.

But Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, which had provided the original backing to build Bridge out of a string of acquisitions, is confident that it will get the backing of the courts to put the company into Chapter 11 - a court-guided protection from bankruptcy.