May 16th, 2008 by cisco kid
I saw a good post today on lecom.blogspot.com.
The first bit is quoted here:
Last September, Leap rebuffed MetroPCS’s proposed merger, in which the younger rival proposed exchanging 2.75 shares of PCS for every 1 of LEAP. In one sense, Leap’s decision seems smart, because its shares are still worth more than Metro’s offer — at Friday‘s close, the offer would have been worth $59.76 but the stock ended at $61.09.
However, both shares are down (PCS down 24%, LEAP down 27%) since the deal was announced last Sept. 4. The relative market caps remain the same, but now Metro is worth $7.6b vs. $4.2b for Leap.
But the more serious problem is that the four major carriers have gone to unlimited service plans — which was the whole point of Leap’s Cricket service (later copied by MetroPCS). Yes, the Big Four want $100/month while Metro wants $40/month (unlimited voice, text messaging and voicemail). But they’ve been forced to respond with a family plan promo: […]
Read the full post here.
Posted in Leap Wireless, MetroPCS, acquisitions | No Comments
September 4th, 2007 by cisco kid
This morning I saw a post that may be of interest.
As rumored at the time of their April IPO, MetroPCS is today offering to buy San Diego-based Leap Wireless, operator of the Cricket mobile phone service.
Both are “all you can eat” CDMA carriers, and both are adding subscribers at far above the national rate (45% and Leap — a 1998 Qualcomm spinoff — got their first, but its growth was long stalled due to poor timing of buying expensive equipment (with expensive vendor financing) near the peak of the bubble, eventually resulting in recapitalization through bankruptcy. MetroPCS came along in 2002 and has had an uninterrupted run of success over the past five years.
With its concentration on major metro markets, MetroPCS is slightly bigger overall, while Leap has more licenses in more cities. Both have roaming problems — lacking the coverage of a Verizon or even a T-Mobile. But the Leap has partially addressed that by clustering nearby markets […]
Read the entire post here.
Posted in Leap Wireless, MetroPCS, acquisitions, CDMA, mobile phones | No Comments