US satellite/terrestrial venture LightSquared could be set to file for an IPO, possibly as early as this summer, according to media reports.
Reuters reported yesterday that LightSquared had met with Wall Street telecoms analysts and investors to discuss…
US satellite/terrestrial venture LightSquared could be set to file for an IPO, possibly as early as this summer, according to media reports.
Reuters reported yesterday that LightSquared had met with Wall Street telecoms analysts and investors to discuss its business plan.
A LightSquared spokeswoman told TelecomFinance that it would not comment on speculation.
According to Reuters, LightSquared has met with an analyst from Morgan Stanley and the representatives of several mutual funds in New York.
It is also reportedly looking to arrange similar meetings on the subject in the West Coast next month.
The reports come as LightSquared looks for more funding to roll out its national LTE network that will operate on a solely wholesale basis.
LightSquared is backed by the US hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners, which is headed by Philip Falcone.
LightSquared says that Harbinger and its affiliates have already contributed US$2.9bn of assets to LightSquared.
It also says that it has additional debt and equity funding of “up to” US$1.75bn.
In October 2010, it announced the closing of a US$850m four-year loan, which was arranged by UBS.
In February 2011, it announced that it had secured a US$586m loan led by UBS and JP Morgan.
In its statement in February, it said that it had raised over US$2bn in equity and debt over the previous seven months.
But LightSquared is still thought to require billions more dollars to roll out its network and meet an FCC target for the network to cover 238 million people by the end of 2015.
There have also been reports that Harbinger is planning to issue a new class of shares in order to encourage more direct investments.
In March, LightSquared announced new partnerships with US wireless carrier Leap Wireless, electronics retailer Best Buy and the rural telecoms provider Open Range.
LightSquared’s CEO, Sanjiv Ahuja, reportedly also said that the company was in talks with 60 companies, and that it had got to the stage of negotiating contracts with 15 of these.
Ahuja reportedly said that LightSquared was targeting wholesale deals with fixed-line and mobile telcos, as well as retailers and cable operators.
