AT&T agrees to buy Leap Wireless in $1.2B deal
Lance Murray
Dallas-based AT&T Inc. has agreed to buy Leap Wireless for $1.2 billion.
Dallas-based AT&T[6] Inc. has agreed to buy Leap Wireless International Inc. in a deal valued at roughly $1.2 billion, around $15 per share in cash.
The deal is the first for AT&T (NYSE: T) since it tried to acquired T-Mobile USA inc. in 2011 for $39 billion, and it's aimed at bolstering AT&T's access to the wireless spectrum it needs to serve its mobile customers.
The Wall Street Journal said that regulators likely will look closely at the deal [7]because they are concerned that spectrum has become concentrated in the hands of industry leaders Verizon Wireless and AT&T. Approval is expected, however, although AT&T might have to sell spectrum in some areas, the Journal said.
San Diego-based Leap (Nasdaqa LEAP) operates under the Cricket brand a 3G CDMA network as well as a 4G LTE network that covers 21 million people and has 3,400 employees, the companies said in a release.[8]
The deal is expected to close in six to nine months.
Lance Murray edits and writes for the DBJ's website and can be reached at 214-706-7106
References
- ^ Lance Murray (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com)
- ^ Twitter (twitter.com)
- ^ Google+ (plus.google.com)
- ^ AT&T (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ regulators likely will look closely at the deal (online.wsj.com)
- ^ the companies said in a release. (newsroom.leapwireless.com)