NEWARK, N.J.—IDT Corp., the former suitor of Teligent Inc., said it will acquire Winstar Communications Inc. for $42.5 million after several tumultuous days of negotiations.
Lawyers for Winstar were planning to ask the bankruptcy court on Monday if the company could file for Chapter 7 after a qualified bidder failed to come forward. Among them was former Winstar Chief Executive Officer and Chairman William Rouhana and President and Chief Operating Officer Nathan Kantor, both of whom resigned to be able to bid on Winstar’s assets.
Reportedly Rouhana and Kantor bid $95 million, but lost out to IDT because IDT could close the deal faster and provide immediate cash to several Winstar vendors, including Verizon Communications and WorldCom Inc.
IDT will pay $30 million in cash and $12.5 million in common stock.
Charles Garner, CEO of IDT Ventures, will be Winstar’s interim CEO, and Moshe Kaganoff was named interim president.
