Entellium files for bankruptcy protection

Troubled Seattle software company Entellium filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today, paving the way for some assets to be sold to financial software maker Intuit, company representatives said.

Entellium is selling its intellectual property to Intuit, Entellium acting Chief Executive Charles Miller said today. Miller and about 10 other Entellium employees have been keeping the company operating since October, when its chief executive and financial officer abruptly resigned and most employees were laid off.

Former CEO Paul Johnston and financial officer Parrish Jones have since been charged with fraud for grossly inflating company revenues to lure investors.

Today's filing "allows the company to reorganize and basically gives the company some breathing room, not only from lawsuits but also time to freeze all its debts and administer the estate in an orderly fashion," said Katriana Samiljan, an attorney with Bush, Strout and Kornfeld who is representing Entellium.

Entellium's bankruptcy filing in federal court says the company has $37.7 million in assets and $12.7 million in liabilities. It lists intellectual property assets as six registered trademarks and trademark applications, including its Rave brand customer relationship management software, and 22 registered domain names.

The bankruptcy filing lists creditors as Ignition Venture Partners, WestRiver Capital of Kirkland, Malaysia Venture Capital Management, Middlefield Ventures, Sigma Partners and Silicon Valley Bank.

The filing includes an 11-page list of equity security holders across the U.S. and in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Dubai and Sri Lanka.

In a separate filing late Monday, attorneys for Johnston and Jones agreed to extend the deadline for an indictment to Dec. 29. And Jones' attorney said he has reached an agreement with federal prosecutors to resolve the case and expects to set a plea hearing the week of Dec. 15.

Kristi Heim: 206-464-2718 or kheim@seattletimes.com