AT&T Wireless on Monday announced that it will buy the 77 percent of TeleCorp PCS Inc. that it does not own already, in an all-stock transaction worth $4.7 billion.
The boards of directors of both companies have approved the transaction. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2002. It is the first major transaction for AT&T Wireless since it spun off from AT&T Corp. in July.
TeleCorp runs service under the SunCom brand name to markets in 14 states in the Southeast and Midwest, including New Orleans; Nashville and Memphis, Tenn.; and Louisville, Ky.
“With this transaction … AT&T has literally zipped up the middle of the country, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico,” said Jerry Vento, CEO of TeleCorp in Arlington, Va., in a conference call Monday.
In that vein, officials said that the acquisition shouldnt result in layoffs.
“These are not overlapping markets,” said John Zeglis, CEO and chairman of AT&T Wireless. “This is not a deal that is going to be made by vast layoffs.”