Alltel Sold to Goldman Sachs
NEW YORK, Aug 29 (Reuters) - U.S. rural wireless service provider Alltel Corp (AT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday that its shareholders approved the company’s sale to private equity firms TPG Capital and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners.
Results from a special meeting showed around 97 percent of votes were cast in favor of the purchase. Those votes represented around 73 percent of the total shares outstanding, the company said.
The sale, worth around $25 billion, is still pending approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
My rough calculations show that shareholders stand to profit on average anywhere from $15-20 per share. That’s a nice piece of change — the stock that has fluctuated around the $50 mark. Not bad at all. I wish I would have bought in 6 months ago… Oh how hindsight is 20/20.
It also looks good from the GS end. Alltel was holding approximately 3 billion in debt at the time of the buyout. That may sound like a lot to the average joe, but that isn’t very much leverage to work with when you are playing with the likes of AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, etc.
NewsVisual does a great job of analyzing the corporate ties the two companies have, and elaborating on how much brighter the future looks with GS on board. A highly recommended read here.
Picture source and credits. (Interactive Version of Image — IE Only)
This buyout should provide the capital outlay that Alltel needs to challenge the big boys in the industry. The deal is rumored to be structured to lay as much as $15 billion in the hands of marketing and operations executives once it is finalized.
Welcome to the big leagues, Alltel.
Wow, wish I had some of that stock…. i’d be laughing to the bank
Alltel, with 12 million customers in 35 states, agreed in May to a proposed $71.50-a-share buyout by Fort Worth, Texas-based TPG Capital, and New York-based GS Capital Partners, a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs. The purchase price is 22.6 percent higher than $58.31, the last closing share price before news of a possible buyout leaked in December.
97% voted for it… representing 73% of the shares. Who was the big dog who didn’t want to sell the company? Or are the rest corporate stocks? WTF?
What about the campaign where he cracks on all the old high school nerd friends? I liked that. Hope GS Corporate doesn’t poo on it!
Great graph! That is by far the best tidbit I’ve seen so far on the acquisition.
Is there an alltel phone that is louder than the others that is suitable for the hard of hearing?