Digital marketing firm emerges from bankruptcy, names new executive

ST. PETERSBURG — Catalina, a digital marketing and advertising firm, has successfully emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

According to a press release, the financially restructured St. Petersburg company has reduced its debt from $1.9 billion to $276 million, a decrease of 85%.

"This is an exciting day for Catalina as we just became a stronger and very competitive company with solid cash flow, low debt, a healthy balance sheet and a robust digital product pipeline," Catalina President and CEO Jerry Sokol states in the release. "We believe we have the best media and data platforms, and we are accelerating our investment in disruptive technologies to further Catalina's in-store, digital, data and advanced analytics businesses to help our customers transform the buyer experience. We are also fortifying our buyer intelligence data and adding depth to our personalization capabilities to power our new digital products and solutions."

Now owned by its creditors, Catalina also announced that Michael Bailey has been appointed chief technology officer, reporting to Sokol. Bailey, the release states, boasts executive leadership experience at Diversified Foodservice Supply, Sygen International, PeoplePC and Staples.

"Catalina has a diverse mix of skillsets and some of the smartest people in the industry, as well as a compelling set of offerings that drive results for an impressive group of customers," Bailey states in the release. "I am excited to extend our technology capabilities in short order to unlock new personalization capabilities.”

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP served as legal counsel, Centerview Partners LLC served as financial adviser and FTI Consulting served as restructuring adviser to Catalina during its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.