NEW YORK-In a series of transactions, paging carrier Metrocall Inc., Alexandria, Va., has turned over 45-percent control of the company to AT&T Wireless Services Inc., Aether Systems Inc., PSINet Inc. and Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Inc.
For a collective investment of about $51 million to purchase outstanding common stock, Aether Systems, PSINet and Hicks, Muse now own approximately 9.5 percent of Metrocall each.
Three new people designated by these new stakeholders have joined Metrocall’s board of directors. Aether Systems, a wireless data applications service provider based in Owings Mills, Md., appointed George P. Stamas, vice chairman of Deutsche Banc Alex.Brown. Also joining the Metrocall board are Harold S. “Pete” Wills, president, chief operating officer and board member of PSINet, an Internet super-carrier based in Reston, Va.; and Michael J. Levitt, a partner of Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst, a Dallas-based private equity investment firm.
With the completion of an exchange of the Metrocall preferred stock it held for 13.25 million shares of Metrocall common stock, AT&T Wireless now holds an equity stake of about 16.5 percent in the paging provider. AT&T Wireless had received the series C preferred stock as a partial payment when Metrocall bought its Advanced Messaging Division in 1998.
“This impressive group of technology and strategic investors is a welcome addition to [our] team,” said William L. Collins III, president and chief executive officer of Metrocall.
“Together we share the belief that the convergence of wireless data, mobile computing and the Internet is the new frontier of e-commerce.”
Metrocall, which offers two-way messaging on its national network, has 6 million subscribers, including those in its recently announced acquisition of NationPage.
Metrocall also is the largest stakeholder in a new joint venture called Inciscent, an Internet-based application service provider targeting business-to-business, wired-to-wireless communications. Inciscent plans to offer broadband Internet access, domain hosting, wireless and wireline electronic mail, wireless data solutions and auction notification and confirmation to home offices and small and medium-size businesses.
In conjunction with the announcement of new equity holders in the facilities-based messaging provider, Metrocall also said the Inciscent joint venture has just completed its “initial $30 million capitalization.” With the closing of a private placement of 15 million shares of series A preferred stock, Metrocall now owns 50 percent of Inciscent. Aether Systems owns 33 percent, while PSINet and Hicks, Muse each own 6.33 percent.
In other news, Metrocall reported an alliance with Open Telecom Ltd., of Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica-based Comtech Ltd., for the two Caribbean providers to resell Metrocall services to their alphanumeric subscribers.
The agreement also allows Open Telecom and Comtech subscribers to roam throughout the United States while using their existing equipment. Metrocall in turn has a reverse option allowing its customers to roam in the Caribbean countries Open Telecom and Comtech serve.
