|
 Joshua Sussberg, a lawyer for an official committee appointed to
oversee any potential LightSquared auction, opened a court hearing
by confirming that Dish had pulled its bid. A source familiar with
the transaction had told Reuters earlier in the day that Dish had
withdrawn its bid.
Shares of Dish, which is looking to enter the wireless market, fell
3 percent, as investors had considered a deal with LightSquared a
good way for the company to expand its spectrum holdings.
Dish had put in a bid of $2.2 billion for LightSquared, but its
efforts were opposed by LightSquared lenders and the telecom firm's
controlling shareholder, Harbinger Capital Partners.
Dish declined to comment, as did a representative for Harbinger, the
hedge fund started by investor Philip Falcone.
Dish has spent billions of dollars buying spectrum, but has
struggled to find a way to put that spectrum to use. Its Chairman
Charlie Ergen has said he wants to use the airwaves to build a
broadband service for wireless delivery of video.
The company's shares were down $1.66, or almost 3 percent, at $56.30
in mid morning trading on Nasdaq following the news, after falling
as low as $55.91 earlier in the session.
[to top of second column] |
The LightSquared decision was first reported in the Wall Street
Journal on Jan. 8.
The move is the latest twist in a long-running saga involving
LightSquared's efforts to use controversial wireless airwaves to
build a broadband network in the United States.
LightSquared filed for bankruptcy in 2012 after the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) blocked its plan to build a wireless
network because the regulator feared it would interfere with GPS
navigation.
The case is In re: LightSquared Inc, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern
District of New York, No. 12-12080.
(Reporting by Nick Brown and Sinead
Carew; editing by Bernadette Baum)
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