WIND Mobile is once again looking to acquire Mobilicity. Its parent company, Globalive Wireless Management Corp., today confirmed that it is participating in Mobilicity’s self-auction. Beyond this confirmation, Globalive provided no details about its intentions.
WIND Mobile CEO Anthony Lacavera has often said that the smaller carriers needed to consolidate in a bid to take on Canada’s big three carriers (Bell, Rogers and TELUS), something he reiterated today in a statement: “Wind has always maintained the need for new entrants to consolidate and work together to compete against the oligopoly.” He last hinted at a possible acquisition this summer when it started to look like Verizon would not expand into Canada after all. Subsequent rumours in September suggested that Mobilicity would send its 200,000 subscribers over to WIND Mobile for “little-to-no financial compensation” but nothing came of these. WIND Mobile may have competition from TELUS which has also tried to acquire Mobilicity recently only to see its attempts rejected by the Canadian government.
According to The Globe and Mail sources, Mobilicity is looking for at least CA$350 million for its spectrum, 189,239 active subscribers and other assets.
Potential bidders had to confirm their interest in the Mobilicity auction by December 2. They now have until December 9 to submit their final bids. It is not clear who, other than WIND Mobile, is participating in the auction at this point.
Source : The Globe and Mail