Salem, Mass.-based Atlantic Tele-Network (ATN) will acquire some of the ex-Alltel markets Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) was forced to divest as part of its take-over of Alltel (NYSE: AT). ATN is paying about $200 million for 800,000 subscribers in rural areas in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Illinois, Ohio and Idaho. ATN has $90 million in cash and will borrow the rest to make the deal, reports Arkansas Business. It expects the deal to close in the second half of this year. It still needs to be approved by the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission.
The WSJ notes that shares have responded positively to the news, and also that “the business being acquired by Atlantic generated revenue of $450 million in 2008″. For its part, Atlantic Tele-Network had total revenues of $207 million in 2008, with $105 million coming from wireless. It also has businesses in Bermuda and Guyana.
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