Sprint buys US Unwired

[agentHibby]

Well US Unwired was not happy with the merger so if you can't beat um. Join um.
here is the link

AP Article: Sprint Agrees to Buy U.S. Unwired for $1.3B
Monday July 11, 9:56 am ET

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) -- Sprint Corp. said Monday that it agreed to acquire U.S. Unwired Inc., a Louisiana-based Sprint affiliate, for about $1.3 billion in cash.

The companies said they will also seek an immediate stay of litigation pending in U.S. District Court, including U.S. Unwired's request for an injunction seeking to block Sprint's planned merger with Nextel Communications Inc.

Under the deal, Sprint will launch a tender offer to buy all of U.S. Unwired's outstanding common stock at $6.25 apiece, a slight 1.5 percent premium to U.S. Unwired's closing price of $6.16 on Friday.

U.S. Unwired shares fell 2 cents to $6.14 in early trading Monday on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Sprint shares rose 19 cents to $25.57 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Shareholders owning about 27.3 percent of U.S. Unwired, which is based in Lake Charles, La., have agreed to tender their shares and vote in favor of the acquisition, Sprint said.

Following the tender offer, any remaining shares will be purchased at the same price, Sprint said. The company is also assuming about $266 million in debt as part of the transaction, which is expected to close during the third quarter.

U.S. Unwired serves more than 500,000 wireless subscribers in nine states. The company has about 600 employees and generated revenue of $408 million in 2004.

[bobolito]

Sprint better stop their shopping spree or they may hit the wall during the merger. They still have to install EV-DO in a bunch of cities and deal with the Nextel merger which will hurt their finances. The merger expenses certainly don't stop after paying the $35B.

[ComicalMoodyDan]

Yahoo! has posted a better written article about this. Click on the link below to read it.

Sprint to buy US Unwired for $1.3 billion

[agentHibby]

Why couldn't sprint buy iPCS back in 2001-2003??
That would have helped them out.

They still have towers out there that are still just IS-95A

[larry]

This means that the new combined company will have even more subscribers that originally thought (assuming that affiliates weren't counted on those estimates).

[Chris L]

Originally Posted by bobolito

Sprint better stop their shopping spree or they may hit the wall during the merger. They still have to install EV-DO in a bunch of cities and deal with the Nextel merger which will hurt their finances. The merger expenses certainly don't stop after paying the $35B.

True enough, although Unwired (and its litigation) was probably the most serious obstacle to the merger, and it should lead to much better SPCS coverage in the southeast (a weak area) in the medium-to-long term, as Unwired simply didn't have the resources to expand coverage outside the metros and highways.

[bobolito]

Originally Posted by larry

This means that the new combined company will have even more subscribers that originally thought (assuming that affiliates weren't counted on those estimates).

Correct me if I am wrong, but all along I thought the 39 million subscribers of the combined company included everything, even indirects and wholesalers. I've always heard Sprint grand total numbers always based on the bundling of all kinds of customers they serve which has always been a point of discussion between you and Matt.

That being said, why would it make any difference in the number of total subscribers if the affiliates have been counted all along? Or am I getting the numbers mixed up somehow?

[jrip]

Originally Posted by bobolito

Sprint better stop their shopping spree or they may hit the wall during the merger. They still have to install EV-DO in a bunch of cities and deal with the Nextel merger which will hurt their finances. The merger expenses certainly don't stop after paying the $35B.

The cash outlay in the merger is limited to about $2.5 billion. Basically only the cost of the premium.The $35 billion is all in the stock swap. Buying the affiliates was planned for. Sprint hoped it's affiliates would not force them to go on a buying spree. But if this happened, and it has, financing for the purchase of all the affiliates(Sprint and Nextel) was secured over a year ago. Sprint sincerely hoped they would have 1-2 years to complete the integration before the buying spree started. This was all expected too happen, it was just hoped not so soon.

[larry]

Originally Posted by bobolito

Correct me if I am wrong, but all along I thought the 39 million subscribers of the combined company included everything, even indirects and wholesalers. I've always heard Sprint grand total numbers always based on the bundling of all kinds of customers they serve which has always been a point of discussion between you and Matt.

That being said, why would it make any difference in the number of total subscribers if the affiliates have been counted all along? Or am I getting the numbers mixed up somehow?

I just couldn't remember if the affiliates had been figured in together. But now that I think about it some more I think you are right.