Alltel Pushing Merger Behind Scenes, Saying Little Publicly
Alltel is turning up pressure on the FCC to approve its pending purchase and privatization by TPG Capital and Goldman Sachs Capital, sources said Friday. TPG Capital and Goldman Sachs recently brought in Kathleen Abernathy, former FCC commissioner, to help lobby the FCC. An Alltel regulatory filing said tender offers expire Nov. 13 unless they're extended. Alltel had little comment Friday during a brief conference call with analysts to unveil quarterly results.
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Approval of the $24.7 million buyout, announced May 20, appears on track, Banc of America said in a research note. “The merger received shareholder approval at the August 29th meeting and we anticipate the FCC approving the merger by year end,” the research note said. “Committed financing is in place for TPG/Goldman to acquire Alltel and there is no current evidence there is any undue risk to the deal. This is likely the last quarter that Alltel will be reporting results publicly.”
CEO Scott Ford declined to take questions in August when the company announced second quarter results, citing the merger. On Friday, Ford wasn’t even on a call with analysts, sending in CFO Sharilyn Gasaway, who briefly discussed results but took no questions.
“We continue to expect the transaction to close before year end,” Gasaway said. “We are waiting for FCC approval and we expect a favorable vote soon.” Ford said in a statement that “we are very pleased with the progress we have made on this transaction.”
Alltel announced third-quarter profit of $283 million on $2.3 billion revenue. Net subscriber additions totaled 205,000, 103 percent more than a year earlier. Overall, churn was 1.9 percent. Revenue per use was $55.96 -- $6.36 from data, up 70 percent from a year earlier.