ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands-Atlantic Tele-Network Inc. is putting the finishing touches on its merger with Comnet Wireless LLC., paying about $59 million to complete the acquisition of 95 percent of Comnet.
ATN said it paid $12 million in cash and borrowed $47 million to close the deal. The purchase price includes repaying about $5.4 million in Comnet debt, and ATN expects the acquisition to be accretive to fourth-quarter earnings this year.
Comnet, headquartered in Atlanta, is a network-based provider of wholesale wireless services, including roaming alliances with rural carriers. The company will operate as a subsidiary of ATN and will be managed by its current management team, led by Brian Schuchman, who remains a 5-percent owner of Comnet.
ATN owns 80 percent of Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company Ltd., the national wireline service provider and in the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. In Bermuda, ATN owns 44 percent of Bermuda Digital Communications Ltd., providing cellular service as Cellular One, and ATN owns 100 percent of Choice Communications Ltd., the largest Internet service provider and the only wireless television provider in the Virgin Islands.
