TORONTO – Wind Mobile has confirmed that it is among the list of potential bidders for fellow wireless carrier Mobilicity.
Under creditor protection since September, Mobilicity announced last month that any interested buyers must formally declare their intentions by December 2 at 10:00 pm ET, and make an official offer by 5:00 pm ET on December 9 to the Monitor, Ernst & Young.
Wind CEO Anthony Lacavera issued a statement confirming that his company is “assessing the value” of Mobilicity’s assets, however, added that there is no guarantee that Wind or parent Globalive will make a binding offer.
But Dvai Ghose, Managing Director/Head of Research for Canaccord Genuity, cautioned clients to not “take such a potential bid seriously”.
“Wind’s strategic sponsor VimpelCom has made it clear on numerous occasions that it wants a “clean exit” from Canada”, he wrote in a research note. “Despite wanting sustainable new entrant competition, Industry Canada refused to approve a formal change of control of Wind from Anthony Lacavera to VimpelCom, resulting in VimpelCom withdrawing its bid for control of Wind on June 19. This also leaves us to wonder why VimpelCom would want to finance a Wind bid for Mobilicity or 700 MHz spectrum, especially as it does not have an obvious exit strategy from Canada. We do not see any other realistic sources of financing for Wind when it comes to acquiring Mobilicity or 700 MHz auction purchases, especially as Wind seems to have been less than successful to date.”
Ghose speculated that if Industry Canada continues to block incumbent wireless bids for Mobilicity, “it could cease operation and its spectrum could lay fallow."
