Atlantic Tele-Network, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATNI) today announced a definitive
agreement to acquire certain wireless assets from Verizon Wireless for
$200 million. Under terms of the agreement, ATN will acquire wireless
properties, including wireless spectrum licenses and network assets,
serving over 800,000 subscribers primarily in rural areas across
Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Illinois, Ohio, and Idaho.
Verizon Wireless is required to divest these properties as part of the
regulatory approvals granted for its purchase of Alltel earlier this
year.
Under terms of the agreement, ATN will purchase the assets for $200
million in cash. ATN expects to fund substantially all of the purchase
price with cash-on-hand and borrowings under its existing credit
facility. As of April 30, 2009, ATN had approximately $90 million in
cash and cash equivalents, $75 million of available borrowings under its
undrawn revolving credit facility, and an additional $50 million of
borrowing capacity, subject to lender consent, under its term credit
facility.
The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and
regulatory approvals, including the receipt of required consents and
approvals from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC.) ATN’s obligation to close the
transaction is not subject to any financing condition. ATN expects the
transaction to close in the third or fourth quarter of 2009.
“This is a very attractive transaction for ATN and it accomplishes what
we have been patiently seeking over the past few years,” said Michael
Prior, ATN’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “It provides ATN
with enhanced scale and revenue diversification and enables us to expand
meaningfully our US wireless business. Coupled with our existing US
wireless operations, we will now have significant wireless operations in
rural areas of more than 10 states. Including our international
operations, we expect to have more than 1,000,000 retail wireless
subscribers by transaction close. We believe that our long history of
operating success in comparable markets, combined with our financial
resources, makes these businesses an ideal fit for us. We aim to further
develop these markets for customers who want the attention and
flexibility of a local operator. We look forward to transitioning the
employees and subscribers of the acquired businesses to ATN and to
continue building our wireless business.”
Conference Call Information
Atlantic Tele-Network will host a conference call this morning at 11
a.m. Eastern Time (ET) to discuss this transaction.
