MetroPCS withdraws IPO
Following a previously announced delay in its planned initial public offering due to accounting issues, regional wireless operator MetroPCS Communications Inc. has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to withdraw the IPO that was expected to commence during the third quarter. The IPO registration was originally filed March 23 but was amended numerous times before MetroPCS announced late last month that it was delaying the offering so the company could review certain accounting issues that the carrier reported late last week, including an $845,000 understatement of revenues and $503,000 in net income for the first quarter of this year. MetroPCS is not new to financial uncertainty as its previous incarnation as General Wireless Inc. was one of the first companies to file for bankruptcy protection following its participation in the Federal Communications Commission’s initial auction of PCS licenses. GWI eventually emerged from bankruptcy protection having reduced its debt to the FCC from more than $1 billion to $166 million.
