BEDMINSTER, N.J.-Verizon Wireless Inc. signed an agreement with Northcoast Communications L.L.C. Thursday to purchase 50 personal communications services licenses and related network assets covering more than 47 million potential customers for approximately $750 million in cash.
The 10 megahertz licenses include a number of top markets along the east coast and in the Midwest including New York City, Boston, Minneapolis, Columbus, Ohio, Providence, R.I., Rochester, N.Y. and Hartford, Conn. In addition, Verizon Wireless will acquire more than 300 cell site locations in the transaction.
The deal calls for approximately $60 million of the gross proceeds from the sale to be used to retire Northcoast’s Federal Communications Commission related debt with the balance distributed to Northcoast’s partners including parent company New York-based Cablevision Systems Corp., which said it would use the approximately $635 in proceeds to pay down bank debt.
Northcoast will keep a handful of its licenses including its Cleveland market where it has already launched wireless services.
Verizon Wireless said it would fund the purchase by drawing from an existing inter-company loan facility with Verizon Communications Inc. and that network investments have been factored into its near-term capital program.
