WASHINGTON-Rothschild Inc. this week will learn whether bulk bidders can top the $54 million
fetched from bidders for Geotek Communications Inc.’s 900 MHz specialized mobile radio licenses in a bankruptcy
auction late last month.
Both individual bidders and bulk bidders have a chance on Monday to improve offers for
Geotek’s wireless licenses.
Though the $54 million is far less than what bulk bidders are ready to pay, according to
sources, the bids by individual bidders are not handicapped by contingencies attached to bulk bids.
It is unclear who
the bulk bidders are and what strings are attached to their bids. Nextel Communications Inc., Chadmoore Wireless
Group Inc. and Mobex Communications have been mentioned as possible contenders for all 190 900 SMR
licenses.
In some cases, bulk bidders simply may need to acquire more financing.
In the case of Nextel, it is a
legal snag. The nation’s top SMR operator is said to be prepared to pay three times as much as that cumulatively bid by
Mobex, Industrial Communications & Electronics Inc., Southern Co., FleetTalk Partners and about a half dozen
others.
But because the Justice Department refused to modify a 1994 antitrust decree, which prevented Nextel from
holding 900 MHz SMR licenses in certain markets, the firm could not bid in the Geotek auction. It is possible,
however, that Nextel could seek relief in a federal appeals court and make a bulk bid contingent on the outcome of any
such ruling.
The recent flurry of activity surrounding the Geotek auction pushed back the next bankruptcy hearing
date to Jan. 15 in Wilmington, Del.
