After failing to land T-Mobile US, AT&T said Friday it agreed to buy
prepaid wireless provider Leap Wireless International for $15 per
share in cash.
The nation's second largest carrier will pay about $1.2 billion for
all of Leap's stock and wireless properties, including licenses,
network assets, retail stores and about 5 million subscribers.
Shares of Leap, which is based in San Diego and sells its wireless
service through the Cricket brand, rose 2.5% to end Friday at $7.98
before the news was released.
In after-hours trading, Leap shares more than doubled to $17.31.
The deal allows AT&T to quickly build its presence in the increasingly
lucrative pre-paid market. AT&T plans to retain the Cricket brand name
and will open up its fastest data network -- 4G LTE -- to Cricket
customers. It also wants to expand Cricket's presence in more U.S.
cities.
Once the deal is completed, AT&T will tap Leap's unused spectrum –
which covers 41 million people – to expand its LTE network, it said.
"The combined company will have the financial resources, scale and
spectrum to better compete with other major national providers for
customers interested in low-cost pre-paid service," AT&T said in a
statement.
Leap's network covers customers in 35 U.S. states. As of the end of
the first quarter, it had 4,63 million customers, down from 5.17
million in the year-earlier period. Its first quarter revenue fell
4.3% to $789.9 million. As of April 15, Leap had $2.8 billion of net
debt.
The deal is subject to review by the Federal Communications Commission
and the Department of Justice. AT&T expects the transaction to close
in six to nine months.
Owners of about 29.8% of Leap's outstanding shares have agreed to vote
in favor of the transaction, AT&T said.
In 2011, AT&T agreed to buy T-Mobile for $39 billion. But citing
anti-trust concerns, federal regulators quashed the deal.
SoftBank, a Japanese wireless carrier, las month completed buying
Sprint Nextel for $21.6 billion. T-Mobile, the fourth largest carrier
in the U.S., also completed its acquisition of pre-paid carrier
MetroPCS earlier this year.
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