Leap Wireless International Inc. said it has completed the purchase of its partner Alaska Native Broadband 1 L.L.C., after the smaller company triggered a put-right which required Leap subsidiary Cricket Communications Inc. to buy out ANB.
Leap already had a 75-percent non-controlling stake in ANB, and purchased the remaining 25 percent for $4.7 million in cash after ANB decided in January to exercise the put option. The Federal Communications Commission has approved the deal.
The purchase gives Leap full control over several licenses that an ANB subsidiary purchased during the FCC’s auction 58, which cover approximately 10.1 million potential customers in Cincinnati; Lexington and Louisville, Ky.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Austin, San Antonio, El Paso and Bryan, Texas; and Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Leap currently provides wireless service in all of those markets.
Leap completes ANB 1 deal
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