Verizon to buy XO Fiber business for $1.8 Billion

[drmike]

This is a good one.  Former corporate raider and Donald Trump shoe-in for cabinet role Carl Icahn is unloading XO to Verizon for $1.8 billion.


The deal also includes potential leasing of wireless spectrum owned by XO and a future right to buy the spectrum.

Carl C. Icahn, the Chairman and Sole Shareholder of XO Holdings, said: “In 2001, I began purchasing the senior debt of XO, and the following year the company filed for bankruptcy. I then worked diligently with other stakeholders to keep XO alive, and in 2003 the company emerged from bankruptcy. The following thirteen years were a bumpy road for XO, as well as other telecoms, as we reckoned with major network overcapacity and other issues caused by overly optimistic projections and capital expenditures made by previous owners. In fact, we had to inject additional capital into the company several times over those years to keep it operating. Although this sale to Verizon does not represent a significant annualized return on our investment, we believe that in today’s environment it does represent the best achievable outcome for the company’s customers, employees and owner.”

source: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160222005855/en/Verizon-acquire-XO-Communications’-fiber-business

 

[drmike]

Should note that Icahn has a personal networth estimated at $21 billion.  He has lost at least his shirt recently as oil prices have plummeted.  Some will speculate this sale has relationship to that.