WIND MOBILE DEAL WOULD CREATE 4TH WIRELESS CARRIER

Sep 16, 2014

By Michael Kramer

Share on

A tentative Canadian wireless deal is in-the-wind.

Wind Mobile’s founder wants to buy out the company’s majority shareholder – a Dutch-Russian company called VimpelCom Ltd.

There’s word that Wind’s chairman and CEO, Tony Lacavera, has arranged to buy out VimpelCom’s majority stake – with financing from Toronto private equity firm West Face Capital and others.

Lacavera owns about 35 per cent of Wind Mobile.

The company’s wireless network serves about 750,000 customers – mostly in heavily populated areas of Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.

The deal is reportedly expected to be worth close to $300 million – and about half of that would involve debt assumed by the new investment consortium.

It also includes Tannenbaum Capital Partners, LG Capital Investors, Serruya Private Equity and Novus Wireless Communications.

A VimpelCom subsidiary helped fund Wind Mobile’s entry into Canada’s wireless industry about five years ago – but the Harper government blocked the European company from acquiring full control last year.

Any agreement reached by the companies would require regulatory approvals, including from Canada’s Competition Bureau.

Advertise With Us

To learn about advertising opportunities with Zoomer Radio use the link below:

Join Our Fan Club
Coverage Area
Downtown Toronto
96.7FM
Toronto HD
96.3 HD-2
Kingston to Windsor, Parry Sound to Pittsburgh
AM740
ZoomerRadio Logo

Recently Played: