Attachment Attachment 1

This document pretains to ITC-T/C-20190213-00075 for Transfer of Control on a International Telecommunications filing.

IBFS_ITCTC2019021300075_1626092

                               ATTACHMENT 1
                 NOTICE OF PRO FORMA TRANSFER OF CONTROL
                     AND RESPONSE TO STAFF QUESTIONS


ANSWER TO QUESTION 10 - Section 63.18(c)-(d)
(c)   Correspondence concerning this filing should be sent to:

      Douglas Everette
      Barnes & Thornburg LLP
      11 South Meridian Street
      Indianapolis, IN 46204-3535
      Tel: (317) 321-7764
      deverette@btlaw.com

(d)   HRS Internet provides non-facilities-based international telecommunications services
      pursuant to authorization by the Commission in File No. ITC-214-20080612-00268.

ANSWER TO QUESTION 11 - Section 63.18(h)

(h)   Both prior to and after the pro forma transfer of control, the individuals holding ten (10)
      percent or more of the equity interests in the transferee LightBound, LLC are:

      Jack Carr (37.08%)
      c/o LightBound, LLC
      731 W. Henry Street, Suite 201
      Indianapolis, IN 46225
      (317) 726-6767
      Citizenship: US Citizen

      Duane Mercer (31.89%)
      c/o LightBound, LLC
      731 W. Henry Street, Suite 201
      Indianapolis, IN 46225
      (317) 726-6767
      Citizenship: US Citizen

      No other individual or entity has a ten percent or greater interest in LightBound, LLC.


ANSWER TO QUESTION 13

This application notifies the Commission pursuant to 47 C.F.R. §63.24(f)(2) of the Rules of the
Commission of a pro forma transfer of control. Specifically, on July 5, 2018, pursuant to the
terms of that certain Written Consent of Managers of VOIP, LLC, VOIP, LLC distributed its
100% membership interest in HRS Internet to LightBound, LLC, the ultimate parent company of
both HRS Internet and VOIP, LLC. As a result of the transaction, the upstream ownership
structure was simplified as follows:

Pre Transaction

               Jack Carr (37.08%)                           Duane Mercer (31.89%)


                                      LightBound, LLC


                                                    100%


                                         VOIP, LLC


                                                    100%


                                      HRS Internet, LLC



Post Transaction

               Jack Carr (37.08%)                           Duane Mercer (31.89%)


                                      LightBound, LLC


                                                    100%


                                      HRS Internet, LLC



In the simplified ownership structure, LightBound, LLC, as HRS Internet’s ultimate parent
entity, holds directly, instead of indirectly, 100% of the equity ownership interests in HRS
Internet. This transaction resulted in a pro forma change in control of the authorization holder

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which requires notification to the Commission because while there was no change in the ultimate
control of the Section 214 authorization, there was a change from 50 percent ownership or more
to less than 50 percent ownership of HRS Internet’s direct upstream owner VOIP, LLC.

HRS Internet’s failure to provide timely notice to the commission of the pro forma transfer of
control was inadvertent. The purpose of the transaction was to wind up the affairs of VOIP,
LLC, a non-operating company, which had previously been administratively dissolved by the
Indiana Secretary of State on April 16, 2015. The pro forma transfer of control was discovered
during HRS Internet’s diligence following an inquiry by Commission’s staff involving an
unrelated joint transfer of control application currently under review.1 Upon its discovery, HRS
Internet has taken immediate action to notify the Commission of this pro forma transfer of
control.




1
    Joint Application for Consent to Transfer Control of Domestic and International Authorizations Pursuant to
    Section 214 of the Communications Act of 1934, As Amended, (ITC-T/C-20181217-00230) (Dec. 17, 2018).

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RESPONSE TO COMMISSION STAFF’S QUESTIONS

The Commission’s Staff has requested additional information about the circumstances in which
LightBound, LLC (“LightBound”) became the upstream owner of HRS Internet. The ownership
information that HRS Internet provided in its original Section 214 application (ITC-214-
20080612-00268) apparently did not identify this relationship. HRS Internet has investigated the
facts and circumstances of the arrangement and respectfully provides its response below.

Response

When HRS Internet filed its International Section 214 application in 2008, the applicant
inadvertently did not identify its upstream organizational structure. Instead, it identified the
individuals holding a ten (10) percent or more direct and indirect equity interest in the applicant
and in any upstream entity. As such, while all individuals having a ten (10) percent or more
equity interest, direct or indirect, in HRS Internet were disclosed in Section (h) of the
application, the entities through which those interests flowed were not identified. The ownership
chart depicting the relevant ten (10) percent or more equity interests in HRS Internet is identified
as follows:


2008:
        Richard Salewicz (45%)                                Duane Mercer (45%)


                                        VonResa, LLC


Richard Salewicz (10.67%)                          21.8125%
Duane Mercer (10.67%)
Jack Carr (10.67%)
                                       LightBound, LLC


                                                   90%


                                          VOIP, LLC


                                                   100%


                                      HRS Internet, LLC



When HRS Internet filed its International Section 214 application in 2008, it inadvertently did
not identify its upstream organizational structure depicted above. Instead, in Section (h) of the


2008 application, HRS Internet identified the individuals holding a ten (10) percent or more
direct and indirect equity interest in HRS Internet. As set out below, because the identified
individuals were also the only individuals holding ten (10) percent or more of the equity interests
in those upstream entities, the attributable equity interests of HRS Internet were disclosed even
though the entities through which those equity interests originated or flowed were not identified.

        1. Identity of the Equity Interests in 2008

HRS Internet:
HRS Internet was 100% owned by VOIP, LLC.

VOIP, LLC
VOIP, LLC, was a limited liability company organized under the laws of the State of Indiana. It
was 90% owned by LightBound.

NOTE:     The remaining 10% ownership in VOIP, LLC was proportionally held by three
          entities: Major Affiliates, Inc. (3.33%), Indiana Fones, Inc. (3.33%), and RES
          Services, Inc. (3.33%). Because none of these entities directly or indirectly held ten
          percent or more equity interests in VOIP, their identity would not have been
          reportable.

LightBound, LLC
LightBound is a limited liability company organized under the laws of the State of Indiana. The
individuals or entities holding ten (10) percent or more direct or indirect equity interests in
LightBound were:

        VonResa, LLC (21.8125%)
        Jack Carr (10.67%)
        Richard Salewicz (20.49% - includes the indirect interest through VonResa LLC)
        Duane Mercer (20.49% - includes the indirect interest through VonResa LLC)

NOTE:     Upon subsequent review LightBound’s financial records, it appears that the figures
          reported in Section (h) of the 2008 application respecting the three individuals holding
          ten (10) percent or more equity interests in LightBound were based on data from 2003
          instead of 2008. As such, each of their individual equity interests were inadvertently
          over-reported by 3.333 percent. The revised figures are identified below:

                          Reported           Revised
           Richard        23.82%             20.49% (includes indirect interests through
           Salewicz                          VonResa)
           Duane          23.82%             20.49% (includes indirect interests through
           Mercer                            VonResa)
           Jack Carr      14%                10.67%




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VonResa, LLC
VonResa, LLC was a limited liability company organized under the laws of the State of Indiana.
The individuals or entities holding ten (10) percent or more direct or indirect equity interests in
VonResa were:

       Richard Salewicz (45%)
       Duane Mercer (45%)

Therefore, because the individuals identified in Section (h) of the 2008 application were the only
individuals holding ten (10) percent or more of the equity interests in HRS Internet’s upstream
entities, the attributable equity interests of HRS Internet were disclosed even though the entities
through which those equity interests originated or flowed were not identified.

Additionally, Section (h) of the 2008 application refers to the individual ownership interests in
“LightBound” which was defined in the application as “HRS Internet.” This is not accurate.
Section (h) actually does describe their equity interests in LightBound. As such, their individual
equity interests in HRS Internet are indirect - attributable through LightBound’s 90% interest in
VOIP, LLC and in turn, through VOIP, LLC’s 100% membership interest in HRS Internet.

       2. Subsequent Internal Changes (Non-Reportable Transactions)

Subsequent to receiving Section 214 authorization, several upstream internal consolidations
occurred, none of which resulted in any individual or entity acquiring a ten (10) percent or more
equity interest in HRS Internet that were not already disclosed in the 2008 application and none
of which resulted in a transfer of control, pro forma or otherwise. The consolidations are
summarized below:

   -   2010: VonResa was dissolved and its equity ownership interests in LightBound were
       distributed to VonResa’s members. No member held 10% or more equity interests in
       LightBound as a result of this dissolution other than Jack Carr, Richard Salewicz and
       Duane Mercer, all of whom continued to hold less 50% equity ownership interests in
       LightBound.

   -   2010: Mr. Salewicz’s interest in LightBound transferred to his estate upon his death. As
       a result of the transfer, Jack Carr and Duane Mercer continued to individually hold less
       than 50% equity ownership interests in LightBound. Moreover, no other individual or
       entity held 10% or more of any such interest in LightBound as a result of the transaction.

   -   2015: Mr. Salewicz’s units were all redeemed by LightBound and the other members’
       interest in LightBound consequently increased. Upon such redemption, the only entities
       or individuals holding a ten (10) percent or more equity interest in LightBound continued
       to be only Mr. Carr and Mr. Mercer.

None of these actions involved a change in control of the authorization holder because there was
(i) no change from less than 50 percent ownership to 50 percent or more, and (ii) no change from
50 percent ownership or more to less than 50 percent ownership. As a result of these actions,

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Jack Carr and Duane Mercer continued to individually hold less than 50% equity ownership
interests in LightBound. Moreover, no other individual or entity held 10% or more of any such
interest in LightBound as a result of these actions. As such no approval was required under 47
C.F.R. §63.24. Additionally, no notification was required pursuant to 47 C.F.R. §63.24(f)
because there was no transfer of control. Therefore, these actions were not reportable.

Moreover, as a result of the internal corporate consolidations described above, no individual or
entity acquired a ten (10) percent or more equity interest in HRS Internet that was not already
disclosed in the 2008 application. Moreover, these transactions did not involve a change in
control of the authorization holder because there was (i) no change from less than 50 percent
ownership to 50 percent or more, and (ii) no change from 50 percent ownership or more to less
than 50 percent ownership. At all times, LightBound was the de facto substantial equity owner
of HRS Internet.

       3. Subsequent Internal Changes (Reportable Transaction)

HRS Internet is concurrently providing notice of a pro forma transfer of control pursuant to 47
C.F.R. §63.24(f)(2) of the Rules of the Federal Communications Commission (“Commission”)
that on July 5, 2018, one of its non-operating upstream owners, VOIP, LLC, distributed its 100%
membership interest in HRS Internet to LightBound, the ultimate parent company of both HRS
Internet and VOIP, LLC.

In sum, while all of the attributable interests were disclosed in Section (h) of the 2008
application, the entities through which those interests flowed were not identified. Also, the equity
interests of the three individuals were slightly over-reported and were associated with their direct
equity interests in LightBound instead of HRS Internet. HRS Internet apologizes for any
inconvenience caused by these inadvertent errors. Moreover, the direct and indirect equity
ownership interests in HRS Internet existing at the time of the submission of the Joint
Application to Transfer Control of Domestic and International Section 214 Authorizations filed
by LightBound and DataBank holdings Ltd. on December 17, 2018 were consistent with the
statements made therein.




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Document Created: 2019-02-13 14:30:46
Document Modified: 2019-02-13 14:30:46

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