Teligent Inc.’s board of directors authorized a two-for-one stock split subject to shareholder approval of an amendment to the company’s certificate of incorporation authorizing an increase in the number of shares of Teligent common stock. The proposed amendment will be presented to shareholders at the company’s annual meeting in May, and if accepted, would be effected as a 100-percent stock dividend. Teligent also plans to sell 4 million shares of class A common stock in a public offering under its effective shelf registration statement. Telecom Ventures L.L.C., a stockholder of Teligent, also plans to sell 2 million shares of Teligent stock in the same offering. Teligent concurrently will launch an offering of $250 million of convertible preferred stock. The preferred shares will be convertible into shares of Teligent class A common stock. The offering is being managed by a group of underwriters led by Merrill Lynch & Co.
Bell Atlantic Corp. declared a quarterly dividend of 38.5 cents per outstanding share to stockholders of record at the close of business on April 10. The dividend is unchanged from the previous quarter and is payable on May 1.
Illinois Superconductor Corp., a supplier of superconducting filter technology for the wireless telecommunications industry, reported three investors, led by Elliot Associated L.P., have invested another $4 million in the company. The investment takes the form of convertible notes and warrants and is on the same terms as the $2 million investment made by the same group in the fourth quarter of 1999.
Paragon Networks International received $8 million in financing from an investor group led by Signal Lake Ventures. Paragon said it plans to use proceeds from the round of financing to accelerate development of a new optical platform designed to support the Time Division Multiplex to Internet Protocol transition that wireless service providers face as they evolve their networks from second-generation to third-generation radio technologies.