With Satelites Mexicanos S.A. de C.V. (Satmex) filing last month in Mexico a voluntary concurso mercantil, which is similar to a bankruptcy filing in the United States, the future of the company has become even cloudier.

According to a statement, Satmex filed the concurso mercantil “in order to continue its efforts to achieve an equitable financial restructuring and is hopeful that a consensual restructuring can be implemented in the near future.”

The voluntary filing comes after an ad hoc committee of U.S.-based holders of certain Satmex debt filed an involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding for the company May 25 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

“The decision to file for concurso mercantil was made after a thorough analysis conducted alongside experts, which allowed us to conclude that this is the best procedure to achieve an agreement on the terms of a restructuring,” Sergio Autrey, Satmex chairman and acting CEO, said in a statement.

The creditors, through a statement issued June 30, expressed “disappointment” over Satmex’s maneuver. The creditors believe that the United States is the proper venue for a court-supervised restructuring because the only debt to be compromised as part of the restructuring is the bond debt issued by Satmex in the United States, almost all of which is held by U.S.-based creditors. The committee also contends that Satmex consented to jurisdiction in New York in connection with the bond debt.

“While the creditors are hopeful that a consensual restructuring can be reached and remain willing to work with [Satmex] and its shareholders to achieve that goal, they are concerned that their requests to meet with the Mexican government to discuss the terms of a consensual restructuring to date have been rejected,” said Skip Victor, senior managing director of Chanin Capital Partners, financial advisor to some of the Satmex debt holders.

A big question mark lingering over the proceedings is the treatment of the “menoscabo,” a debt owed to the Mexican government from Satmex’s holding company, Servicios Corporativos. There have been conflicting news reports, with various Mexican media citing an unnamed Mexican government official who emphasized that no restructuring will happen unless the menoscabo is addressed. However, the Financial Times quoted Alonso Garcia Tames, deputy secretary of the country’s Finance Ministry as saying the menoscabo is not backed by the assets of Satmex, but by dividends paid out from the holding company and the holders of Satmex’s debt would get preferential treatment over the menoscabo.

But at the end of the day, whether Satmex’s restructuring takes place in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court or in Mexico, the future of the company is not guaranteed.

“I think that when you look at Satmex, which has not been a profitable company from almost the beginning and when you consider the competition Satmex has in Latin America, particularly from companies such as Intelsat, Satmex to me does not have a promising future, even with a reorganization,” Maria Velez de Berliner, president of Latin Trade Solutions Inc., told Satellite News. “They have a very uphill [road] to travel. The question is going to be how is the company, even reorganized, going to deal with the creditors in the United States. That, to me, is a very big cloud hanging over the company.”