SAN FRANCISCO-AirTouch Communications Inc. increased its ownership in Portuguese cellular operator Telecel-Comunicacoes Pessoais from 39 percent to 51 percent, making it the majority shareholder.
Telecel recently completed an initial public offering of more than 7.6 million shares. Price per share was about $51.
“We’ve been actively involved in Telecel since the launch of service in 1992, and have been very impressed with its strong performance,” said Arun Sarin, president and chief executive officer of AirTouch International. “Telecel’s successful public offering shows that investors appreciate the company’s value.”
Telecel operates a nationwide Global System for Mobile communications cellular network. It has 267,000 customers, representing 53 percent of Portugal’s GSM subscriber base, AirTouch said.
In related news,the board of directors of AirTouch Communications declared Dec. 31 the record date for fourth quarter dividends on its 6 percent Class B mandatorily convertible preferred stock and its 4.25 percent Class C convertible preferred stock.
The payment date for both dividends is Feb. 15.
