Ciprico Files for Bankruptcy Protection

Minnesota-based Storage solutions provider Ciprico filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection July 28, failing to find a partner or buyer to rescue it before bills came due.

Ciprico's offerings have been led by its RAIDCore technology. In May, it released its Virtual Storage Technology (Ciprico VST) Pro software, enabling RAIDCore to run on Intel, AMD/ATI and Broadcom chipset solutions without the need for a hardware controller.

The company said it is in discussions with "several large companies" about its future, and would stand by its products and customers, President and CEO Steve Merrifield said in a letter to customers.

"The technology we have developed over the past few years based on a pure software based, multicore accelerated technology has continued strong and we believe we have an excellent portfolio of new products on the cusp of being released that will greatly benefit Ciprico's customers as it moves into a new phase post-bankruptcy," he wrote.

Cash flow problems and the need to protect the day-to-day operations and remain in business led to the filing, Merrifield wrote. "While we believe we have a solid path to profitability, due to a number of unforeseen circumstances tied to both the current industry climate and certain investments made in the real estate market, the company finds itself very short of cash for the immediate term and was forced to file in order to protect both the company, its customers and employees," he wrote.

In March, the company reduced staff as it explored its options. It also dropped out as an NAB Show exhibitor as well.

NASDAQ suspended trading of Ciprico stock Aug. 1. The stock, which soared above $19 per share in 1996, remained as high as $8 in July 2007 before plunging to about 8 cents after the bankruptcy filing.