The CEO of Wind Mobile Anthony Lacavera has said he is interested in purchasing Mobilicity in light of Verizon Communications cooling its interest for the two small Canadian wireless operators.
The US telco had been pursuing acquisitions of…
The CEO of Wind Mobile Anthony Lacavera has said he is interested in purchasing Mobilicity in light of Verizon Communications cooling its interest for the two small Canadian wireless operators.
The US telco had been pursuing acquisitions of Mobilicity and Wind ahead of the country’s 700 MHz auction scheduled for January but it has now been reported that it will wait until after the tender to follow through on its interest, if it does at all.
In comments to a Canadian newswire, Lacavera said this opened the door for him to acquire Mobilicity before the spectrum auction. Should Verizon want to buy the struggling operator, Lacavera added that he would not be able to outbid it.
However, he said he did not necessarily think that Verizon coming in for Mobilicity and Wind before September was out of the question and that the New York-based telco was just examining all its options.
There is a 17 September deadline for prospective bidders in the 700 MHz tender to submit deposits. After that date the rules of the auction state that: “Each applicant is prohibited from cooperating, collaborating, discussing, negotiating or entering into agreements, arrangements or understandings with any competitors regarding the licences being auctioned, bids or bidding strategies in the auction, or the post-auction market structure.”
If Lacavera were to bid, it would be in a personal capacity with backers, as opposed to through Wind. He owns 35% of Wind and has expressed interest in buying the rest from its largest investor VimpelCom.
The Canadian government has indicated that it will not sanction the transfer of spectrum licences from the likes of Wind and Mobilicity to incumbent operators Bell, Rogers and Telus. Instead Ottawa continues to pursue its policy aim of having four carriers in every region, much to the ire of the big three which have been lobbying vigorously against Verizon’s potential entry to the market.
Following news that Verizon had put off its acquisition plans, the incumbents share prices received a boost: Bell stock rose 1.7%, Telus went up 4.7% while Rogers grew by 5.2%.
