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U.S. regulator completes review of regional mobile consolidation deal, which includes transactions with wholesale partner Sprint.
Shenandoah Telecommunications (Shentel) this week announced that it has received regulatory approval for its acquisition of fellow regional U.S. mobile operator nTelos.
The telco said it has gained Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval for the deal, which should enable it to close "within the next few weeks," subject to certain outstanding conditions.
The FCC decision means that all reviews of its nTelos acquisition and related deals with wholesale partner Sprint have now been completed.
Shentel agreed to acquire nTelos for US$640 million, including net debt, in August with nTelos shareholders voting in favour of the deal in November.
The deal made provision for nTelos customers to be transferred to a Sprint-branded service managed by Shentel; the nTelos brand will cease to exist.
Shentel also inked a series of additional transactions with Sprint designed to extend their relationship. Sprint will pay Shentel up to $252 million over a five-to-six-year period through a reduction in retained revenues for the additional spectrum, customers and value it will gain from the amended partnership. In addition to gaining customers to its brand in the south eastern U.S., Sprint will also take over a number of retail outlets, which will adopt the Sprint name but will be managed by Shentel, and will receive nTelos spectrum assets.
"This transaction more than doubles Shentel’s wireless customer base, enhances our presence in the mid-Atlantic region by adding a highly complementary footprint and further strengthens our longstanding partnership with Sprint," said Shentel CEO Christopher French.
"With the close of this deal, Shentel will be positioned as one of the top six public wireless providers in the United States," French added.
Virginia-based nTelos recently announced that it added a net 19,900 new customers last year, up from 14,600 in 2014. Thus it ended 2015 with a customer base of 302,000 in Virginia, West Virginia and portions of Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kentucky.
