Portland IT firm Tilson files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
Photo / Peter Van Allen
Tilson, a telecommunications firm headquartered at 16 Middle St. in Portland, has filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Tilson, a Portland-based developer of fiber and wireless networks with a national footprint, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after the company's largest client cancelled its contracts.
The client, Gigapower — a joint venture between telecommunications giant AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and New York-based investment company BlackRock Inc. NYSE: BLK) — contracted with Tilson to design and build fiber networks in Las Vegas and Gilbert, Ariz.
Fast forward to early March 2025, when Tilson notified Gigapower that it was suspending work on the project, citing Gigapower's "material breach" for nearly $20 million in unpaid invoices and unresolved change orders.
Three weeks later, Gigapower purported to terminate "for convenience" all construction in Arizona that was not already in process, and suspended engineering work. And on April 29, Gigapower terminated nearly all of the remaining construction work in Arizona and Las Vegas, Tilson alleges in a 22-page court filing.
Tilson said Thursday that it is taking steps to address financial challenges triggered by the abrupt cancellation of the contracts and position the business for long-term success. The company is operating as usual, it said.
A spokesperson for Gigapower did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
'Core business is strong'
Tilson said it has received a commitment of $37.5 million in debt financing from existing lenders to support the reorganization process, which is before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
"Our core business is strong, but we need to reset after one client’s failure to manage its relationships with its host communities and pay us for the work we performed materially changed our revenue expectations,” Darrell Ingram, Tilson’s CEO, said in Thursday’s announcement. “The steps we’re taking today represent a new beginning, not an end.”
Tilson said it aims to complete the restructuring "as quickly as possible" and emerge from Chapter 11 as a financially stronger company in the third quarter of 2025.
In coming days, the company expects to get court approval for a number off motions, including one to pay employees without interruption. Tilson also said it intends to pay vendors and suppliers in full for goods and services provided on or after today's filing in accordance with federal bankruptcy law.
Out of 600 total Tilson employees, 67 are based in Maine.
More on the case
Tilson is being advised on the case by Bernstein Shur and Saul Ewing, a Philadelphia-based law firm as legal counsel, Woodward Park Partners as investment banker and Alastair Partners as financial advisor. The company's lenders are taking advice from Morgan Lewis and Berkeley Research Group (BRG), a global consulting group.
Tilson was founded in 1996 as a technology training startup and expanded to provide business information system selection, implementation, and IT leadership consulting services nationally. In 2007, the company's founder, Mike Dow, hired Joshua Broder as Tilson's third employee.
Broder took the reins as Tilson's CEO in 2010 but stepped down in early 2024 to become CEO of Tilson Infrastructure, which is a separate company with no involvement in the Chapter 11 process.
Court filings show that in the first quarter of 2025, Broder personally provided $10 million in cash to Tilson through a subordinated note to provide a bridge to closing a private debt transaction or the next equity wave. That investment was intended to allow management to work through outstanding work change orders with Gigapower and resume construction in Las Vegas, unlocking additional cash.
Gigapower then ultimately undertook a series of actions, including canceling the contracts, that led Tilson to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to Thursday's court filing.
Editor's note: Article has been updated with additional information.
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