SunCom Wireless, a provider of wireless voice and data services across much of the southeast, is being sold to T-Mobile USA in a deal worth $2.4 billion.
SunCom (NYSE: ), which is based in Berwyn, Pa., offers coverage in the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee as well as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
T-Mobile will pay $1.6 billion in cash and assume $800 million in debt. T-Mobile is a subsidiary of Deutsche Telecom in Germany. SunCom shareholders with receive $27 per share, a more than 20 percent premium over the stock’s closing price of $22 on Sept. 14.
T-Mobile had already used SunCom’s network to provide roaming coverage to T-Mobile customers.
"With the acquisition of SunCom, we will continue to implement our strategy to ‘grow abroad with mobile’, which is part of our overall group strategy," said René Obermann, chairman of the board of management of Deutsche Telekom. “At the same time, we can realize significant synergies on the cost side and improve our market presence. As a result, this acquisition will fit very well with our strategy to grow abroad with mobile primarily within our current footprint within the context of market consolidation."
After the deal is closed, T-Mobile will offer service in 98 of the top100 metro markets in the United States.
SunCom has more than 1.1 million customers and annual revenues of $242.5 million.
Investment funds that own more than 50 percent of SunCom common stock have already agreed to the acquisition.
