AT&T has inked a deal to acquire Straight Path Communications, a company that holds a swath of 39 GHz and 28 GHz spectrum, in an all-stock deal that carries a total value of $1.6 billion.
Under the deal, AT&T will acquire Straight Path for $95.63 per share, implying a premium of 204% to the closing price of Straight Path common stock of $31.41 on Jan. 11, 2017, the day before the company announced an FCC settlement of $15 million and a plan to pursue strategic alternatives process (which included a possible sale of assets).
The FCC settlement resolved an investigation into Straight Path’s failure to deploy wireless services as required under its FCC spectrum licenses. The settlement for this case of spectrum squatting also called on Straight Path to surrender to the Commission 196 of its licenses in the 39 GHz spectrum band, sell the remainder of its license portfolio, and remit 20% of the proceeds of that sale to the Treasury as an additional civil penalty.
The deal price also represents a premium of 162% to the closing price of Straight Path stock of $36.48 on April 7. Straight Path shareholders will receive $1.25 billion, paid using AT&T stock.
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(Photo via Bill Bradford's Flickr. Image taken on March 4, 2016 and used per Creative Commons 2.0 license. The photo was cropped to fit 9x16 aspect ratio.)
