ATS Liquidating Trust Announces Agreement to
Compromise Collagen Royalty Rights
San Diego, Calif., September 22, 2006 – The ATS Liquidating Trust
(ATISZ.PK – please read the disclaimer in the last paragraph of
this release regarding trading under this symbol) today announced that
the Trustee of the Trust has reached an agreement with Inamed, LLC, as
successor-in-interest to Inamed Corporation, for a lump sum royalty payment
in full satisfaction of Inamed’s future obligations to make collagen
royalty payments to the trust. The agreement has been submitted to the
U. S. Bankruptcy Court for approval. A copy of the Court filing detailing
the agreement is available on the Trust’s web site at www.advancedtissue.com.
Under the agreement, Inamed will pay the Trust a lump sum of $5.5 million
plus all accrued but unpaid royalty payments through the date of the
agreement, August 29, 2006.
The Trust is entitled to receive royalties on Inamed’s sales of
human collagen under terms of a 1999 contract between Advanced Tissues
Sciences, Inc. and Inamed Corporation and the subsequent amended agreements
resulting from the 2002 bankruptcy filing of Advanced Tissue Sciences.
Inamed is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Allergan, Inc.
The compromise with Inamed is part of the Trustee’s efforts to
liquidate the Trust’s remaining assets. The Trustee’s
goal is to make a final liquidating distribution to Trust beneficiaries
as soon as practical after receipt of the cash from Inamed and liquidation
of the Trust’s other assets. The final amount of such a distribution
will depend on, among other things, the final expenses necessary to conclude
the Trust’s activities. An announcement of the amount and timing
of the distribution will be posted on the Trust web site.
Under the provision of the Plan as approved by the Court, the Trust is
not required to make a distribution to former Advanced Tissue Sciences,
Inc. (“ATS”) shareholders who have not provided the Trust
with a current address. Beneficiaries who owned ATS stock in their
own name and who have not received a distribution should contact the
Trustee by mail, fax or e-mail with their current address. Beneficiaries
who own their stock through a broker should contact their broker.
As a result of the Chapter 11 Liquidation Plan of Reorganization which
was confirmed by the Bankruptcy Court by a final order dated March 21,
2003 and which became effective on March 31, 2003, the stock of ATS was
cancelled and its former stockholders now hold non-trading interests
in the ATS Liquidating Trust. According to the terms of the Plan, the
Interests in the ATS Liquidating Trust are not to trade and the Liquidating
Trustee will only recognize as beneficiaries of the Trust those equity
holders of record as of the effective date of the Plan. Any trading that
may be occurring after the effective date of the Plan under the symbol “atisz.pk” or
otherwise is unauthorized by the Plan and will not be recognized by the
Trustee. As a result of the terms of the Plan and the order of the Bankruptcy
Court confirming the Plan, the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 as
amended and the rules promulgated there under no longer apply to the
Company since it has no issued stock, no shareholders, and is no longer
in business. However, to the extent applicable, forward looking statements
in this release regarding the sale of royalties and any future distributions
are made by the Trust under the safe harbor provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
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