and Google Apps for Work. In May 2016, Global Cloud Xchange was named Best Managed Services Provider at the Telecom Asia Awards held in conjunction with the annual Telco Strategies in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In April 2017, Global Cloud Xchange partnered with Alibaba group's Alibaba Cloud Express to drive new business opportunities in enterprise segment. In June 2017, Global Cloud Xchange partnered with Aegis Data, vScaler. GCX enables direct access to vScaler's Cloud Services platform via GCX's CLOUD X Fusion, delivering Next Generation application-specific Cloud Services to consumers and enterprises over the GCX Global Network. In June 2017, Global Cloud Xchange won two Datacloud Awards. "Excellence in Connectivity for Data Centers" and "Excellence in Cloud Services" at the Datacloud Europe 2017 conference. Also in June 2017, Global Cloud Xchange partnered with Sovereign to offer global connectivity to business enterprise customers. In September 2019, the company filed for bankruptcy protection in a US court when it failed to pay $350 million of 7% bonds that matured in the beginning of August, 2019. In February 2020, Global Cloud Xchange renewed multi-year contract with Autoneum, to enhance Autoneum's Internet infrastructure with enhanced connectivity to 55 production locations across 25 countries in Europe, North and South America, Africa, and Asia In March 2020, Global Cloud Xchange and Sparkle, announced the extension of their partnership by adding new spectrum capacity over the Flag Atlantic (FA-1) transatlantic system connecting Paris and London to New York. Global Cloud Xchange Announces Majority Emergence from Bankruptcy GCX announces the appointment of Carl Grivner to the Company’s Board of Directors SGS Extends Network Connectivity Agreement with Managed SD-WAN from Global Cloud Xchange GCX appoints new Chief Financial Officer, Anja Blumert GCX announces an addition to the Company’s Board of Directors; Brian Fitzpatrick Carl Grivner appointed Chief Executive Officer of GCX GCX announces the appointment of Rahul N. Merchant to its Board of Directors In May 2021, GCX announced key findings from a Pioneer Consulting report evaluating the service life of its global subsea asset. The evaluation concluded at least five more years on GCX’s oldest operating systems, plus longer life at increased capacity available for the foreseeable future. In July 2021, GCX reported Free Cash Flow of $24.9 million, representing a $82.7 million improvement year-on-year, enabling the business to paydown nearly $10.5 million in debt. The combination of strong cash flow and deleveraging the business allows GCX to continue reinvesting