The end is nigh for Storm

Optical switched service provider Storm, which had attracted around $400 million in commitments, has gone into receivership. KPMG Corporate Recovery has been appointed as administrator. Founded in 1998, Storm’s management completed a $50 million management buyout backed by Soros Private Equity Partners in February 2000. Further backing from Merrill Lynch Ventures followed in May.

In July last year, the company secured a further $35 million from its original investors to enable Storm to offer a new class of communications services to its customers. The roll-out of advanced Ethernet and IP services for businesses followed to complement its existing pan-European optically switched network. Just this month the company signed up Nildram as the first customer of its Ethernet on-demand service.