ViaSat has completed its US$568m acquisition of Ka band satellite broadband provider WildBlue Communications. The companies first announced the deal in October and since then ViaSat has paid approximately US$443m in cash to WildBlue’s debt holders and…
ViaSat has completed its US$568m acquisition of Ka band satellite broadband provider WildBlue Communications. The companies first announced the deal in October and since then ViaSat has paid approximately US$443m in cash to WildBlue’s debt holders and issued 4.29 million shares of common stock to WildBlue equity and debt holders.
Mark Dankberg, ViaSat chairman and CEO, stated: “The WildBlue acquisition advances our entry into the Ka band broadband service business by over a year and more completely establishes the financial and strategic framework to capture the value anticipated from the ViaSat-1 satellite. We also believe the resources and skills of the WildBlue team add greater momentum to our plans to bring satellite broadband to new markets and applications on a global scale.”
The ViaSat-1 satellite is scheduled to launch in early 2011 and is expected to multiply WildBlue’s total network capacity by more than tenfold, and by a factor of over 20 in those areas with the highest demand.
ViaSat stated that it expects to provide a current financial outlook for fiscal year 2011, including the effects of the acquisition, at its next earnings conference call scheduled for early February 2010.
