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Dec. 27, 2009

Wireless broadband network infrastructure supplier Airvana has been acquired for about $530 million in cash. The buyer is a newly formed company, called 72 Mobile Holdings, comprised of affiliates S.A.C. Private Capital Group, GSO Capital Parnters, Sankaty Advisors and ZelnickMedia.

Under the specific terms of the deal, each share of Airvana common stock will be exchanged for about $7.65 in cash, representing a premium of about 23.2 percent over the closing share price on Dec. 24.

72 Mobile Holdings' CEO Randy Battat said “as we transition to a private company, Airvana will continue to focus on its two major mobile broadband product lines, EV-DO software and femtocells. Our customers should expect the same great products delivered by the same great team.”

The transaction was unanimously approved Thursday by Airvana’s board and by a Special Committee of independent directors. Completion of the transaction is expected by about March 15, 2010.

As usual, the acquisition is subject to approval of Airvana shareholders, regulatory approvals and other closing conditions.

Some members of Airvana’s management team, including President and CEO Randy Battat and founders Vedat Eyuboglu and Sanjeev Verma, will exchange a portion of their shares for an equity interest in the acquirer.

Merle Gilmore, former president of Motorola’s Communications Enterprise, will serve as chairman of the company following the closing.

Last month, Airvana introduced the HubBub Connected Home Femtocell, a new model of its HubBub CDMA femtocell that features an integrated analog phone adaptor and router.

The new product won the 2009 3G CDMA Industry Achievement Award for Subscriber Technology Innovation sponsored by the CDMA Development Group.

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Source: 72 Mobile Holdings Inc.