NEW YORK-Price Communications Corp.’s board of directors has decided to pursue liquidating the company, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The small wireless operator has been operating in partnership with Verizon Wireless since 2002; prior to that, Price operated its own TDMA network that served more than 560,000 subscribers in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and Florida, covering a population of about 3.4 million. Price sold its network and assets to Verizon Wireless for $1.7 billion and now its only asset is Verizon Communications Inc. stock.
Robert Price, the company’s chief executive officer, started Price Communications in the early 1980s after leaving investment banking. The media company at one point owned multiple radio stations and television stations around the country, as well as a billboard company and several newspapers’ the company moved into the cellular industry in the mid-1980s.
Price Communications reported a fourth-quarter 2005 loss of $196 million, mostly due to a year-end charge due to an accounting requirement. The company also recorded an income tax benefit of $92 million.
The vote to liquidate must take place before August and shareholders representing two-thirds of the company’s outstanding shares must vote in favor of the liquidation for it to occur. In 2003, Price shareholders were allowed to participate in an advisory vote to give the board their views on whether the company should pursue liquidation or another course; according to the SEC filing, most of the voters wanted the company to acquire another business. So Robert Price and the company looked at “a number of potential acquisitions and opportunities,” including “the purchase of a mutual fund management company, banks, cellular properties, independent telephone companies, broadcasting and/or publishing companies and a proposal for the conversion of the company into a closed-end investment company” before concluding that the liquidation was indeed the path of best value.
Analyst Ric Prentiss of Raymond James estimated that the value of the partnership would be about $1.2 billion by the time the vote must occur.
Robert Price said he expected most of his stockholders to support the liquidation, and that some of them may follow him into whatever his next venture turns out to be.
“We have a lot of money in the bank, our stock is doing well and I have to figure out what to do next,” Price said, adding that he is still interested in “what he knows”-the media industry. He said he expects that it will take about a year for the company to go through liquidation-and for him to make a decision about what to pursue next.
“It depends on what opportunities come along,” Price said, adding tongue-in-cheek, “I certainly won’t need it to eat.” RCR
