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Motient and SkyTerra Announce Transactions to Consolidate Ownership of Mobile Satellite Ventures and TerreStar Networks; Simplified Ownership will Provide Enhanced Access to Capital and Strategic Partners for MSV and TerreStar.


LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill. & NEW YORK New York, state, United States
New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of
 -- Motient Corporation (MNCP) and SkyTerra Communications, Inc. (SKYT), announced today that they have signed definitive agreements to consolidate the ownership and control of Mobile Satellite Ventures Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV) is a Reston, VA company that develops telecommunications systems that integrate satellite and terrestrial radio communication technologies into one system.  LP (MSV mSv Millisievert (measure of radiation dose)
MSV Medical Society of Virginia
MSV Maize Streak Virus
MSV Mobile Satellite Ventures LP (Reston, Virginia)
MSV Men Stopping Violence
) and its corporate general partner under SkyTerra, and to consolidate the ownership and control of TerreStar Networks TerreStar Networks is a Reston, VA-based company that operates integrated satellite and terrestrial telecommunications systems. It is a subsidiary of TerreStar Corporation.  Inc. under Motient. The series of transactions would result in SkyTerra ultimately owning 70% of MSV, and Motient owning 74% of TerreStar, each on a fully-diluted basis and assuming certain other stakeholders participate in the transaction as outlined below. Both MSV and TerreStar have announced plans to provide advanced mobile satellite communications services throughout North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. .

Following this realignment re·a·lign  
tr.v. re·a·ligned, re·a·lign·ing, re·a·ligns
1. To put back into proper order or alignment.

2. To make new groupings of or working arrangements between.
 of the ownership structure of the two companies, MSV and TerreStar will each be controlled by an independent, publicly traded entity. Each company will be better positioned to pursue the deployment of separate hybrid satellite and terrestrial based communications networks and engage in partnerships, or other arrangements, with potential strategic partners.

Motient currently holds a 43.4% interest in MSV and a 54.3% interest in TerreStar, and SkyTerra, through an 80% owned subsidiary, currently holds a 16.2% stake in MSV and a 13.1% interest in TerreStar, each on a fully-diluted basis.

Christopher Downie, Chief Operating Officer Chief Operating Officer (COO)

The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president.
 of Motient said, "In pursuing this transaction, our primary objective has been to create a clear path to value for our stockholders. After careful consideration of various structures we could pursue to achieve our goal, we concluded that the separation of MSV and TerreStar into two independent publicly traded entities will provide each company and our stockholders with the best path to unlock the current and future value of both businesses."

"This transaction provides MSV and TerreStar a clear path to execute their respective business plans and to maximize their abilities to capitalize on Cap´i`tal`ize on`   

v. t. 1. To turn (an opportunity) to one's advantage; to take advantage of (a situation); to profit from; as, to capitalize on an opponent's mistakes s>.
 strategic opportunities and relationships," said Jeffrey Leddy, Chief Executive Officer and President of SkyTerra.

The basic terms of the transaction include, among other things, the following:

MSV Consolidation

At closing, Motient will immediately exchange 60.6% of its interest in MSV (representing 10.3 million partnership units of MSV) for 29.1 million shares of SkyTerra common stock. Motient intends to distribute 25.5 million of those SkyTerra shares to Motient common stockholders (representing 53.2% of its interest in MSV) after the closing. Motient will utilize the SkyTerra shares not distributed for tax planning Tax planning

Devising strategies throughout the year in order to minimize tax liability, for example, by choosing a tax filing status that is most beneficial to the taxpayer.
 or other corporate purposes. In addition:

--39.4% of Motient's interest in MSV (representing 17.1% of MSV on a fully diluted basis) will be retained by Motient, and Motient will have the right to exchange these MSV interests at the same exchange ratio (i.e. for a total 18.9 million shares of SkyTerra common stock) at a later date. Motient expects to exchange the retained MSV interests for SkyTerra shares to issue upon the conversion of its outstanding preferred shares Preferred shares

Preferred shares give investors a fixed dividend from the company's earnings and entitle them to be paid before common shareholders. See: Preferred stock.
, to satisfy corporate income taxes resulting from the transaction and for other corporate requirements as appropriate (along with the shares retained above in the initial exchange). Motient estimates that corporate tax liabilities related to the initial exchange will range from $50 to $80 million based on current stock prices, after offsets from Motient's net operating losses Net operating losses

Losses that a firm can take advantage of to reduce taxes.
. The intended distribution of the SkyTerra shares to Motient's stockholders will be taxable to those stockholders.

--At closing, SkyTerra will acquire control of all of Motient's shares of MSV's corporate general partner, including those relating to relating to relate prepconcernant

relating to relate prepbezüglich +gen, mit Bezug auf +acc 
 the MSV interests retained by Motient for future exchange.

--Other MSV equity holders (Columbia Capital and Spectrum Equity) have also agreed to exchange all of their MSV interests for shares of SkyTerra common stock on the same terms as Motient.

--SkyTerra will acquire from the holders of the 20% minority interest in its MSV Investors subsidiary their stake in MSV for 4.1 million shares of SkyTerra common stock. Immediately prior to that acquisition, MSV Investors will distribute to these minority holders and SkyTerra, their pro-rata portion of the subsidiary's TerreStar stake.

--Based upon the MSV ownership of the signatories to this transaction, SkyTerra will increase its ownership from 16.2% of MSV to 52.4% of MSV upon initial exchange and up to 70% of MSV after the final exchange, on a fully diluted basis. SkyTerra will have issued 58.5 million shares of its common stock to increase its MSV ownership to the 70% level. SkyTerra may acquire additional interests in MSV on the same terms and conditions as offered to Motient if other MSV owners exercise their tag along tag along
Verb

to accompany someone, esp. when uninvited: I tagged along behind the gang

Verb 1.
 rights or if it negotiates and enters into exchange transactions with MSV option holders.

--As a condition to closing, SkyTerra's outstanding preferred stock Stock shares that have preferential rights to dividends or to amounts distributable on liquidation, or to both, ahead of common shareholders.

Preferred stock is given preference over common stock. Holders of preferred stock receive dividends at a fixed annual rate.
, the conversion price of which would otherwise be reduced to approximately $27 per share as result of these transactions, must be redeemed. SkyTerra intends to accomplish this through a separately announced rights offering.

TerreStar Consolidation

Columbia Capital and Spectrum Equity will exchange all of the shares of TerreStar that they own, and it is anticipated that the minority investors in MSV Investors will also exchange their shares, (representing in aggregate 7.2% of TerreStar on a fully-diluted basis) with Motient for 4.6 million shares of Motient common stock.

--Based upon the TerreStar ownership of the signatories to this transaction, at closing Motient will own approximately 61.5% of TerreStar on a fully-diluted basis. If the minority investors in MSV Investors and holders of TerreStar stock and options (other than SkyTerra and TMI TMI Too Much Information
TMI Three Mile Island
TMI TRMM Microwave Imager
TMI Transactions on Medical Imaging
TMI Texas Military Institute
TMI Teen Missions International
TMI Tauber Manufacturing Institute
 Communications Company Communications Company is a communications unit of the United States Marine Corps. They are part of Combat Logistics Regiment 37 , 3rd Marine Logistics Group (3MLG) and III Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF). The unit is based out of the Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. ) exercise their tag-along rights Tag-Along Rights

A contractual obligation used to protect a minority shareholder (usually in a venture capital deal). Basically, if a majority shareholder sells their stake, then the minority shareholder has the right to join the transaction and sell their minority stake in the
, Motient will acquire, in the aggregate, approximately 20.4% of TerreStar in exchange for a total of 13.1 million shares of Motient common stock, and as a result own 74.2% of TerreStar on a fully-diluted basis.

--Motient's outstanding preferred stock will remain outstanding at the close of the transactions. Upon conversion of Motient's preferred stock, preferred stock holders will receive shares of Motient common stock and shares of SkyTerra common stock equal to the amount (after adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends, etc.) that they would have received had they converted their preferred stock immediately prior to the closing of the transactions.

The closing of the transactions contemplated hereby will be subject to various closing conditions, including FCC (1) (Federal Communications Commission, Washington, DC, www.fcc.gov) The U.S. government agency that regulates interstate and international communications including wire, cable, radio, TV and satellite. The FCC was created under the U.S.  and other regulatory approval. Accordingly, neither Motient nor SkyTerra can assure you that these transactions will close on the terms outlined here, if at all.

About Motient Corporation:

Motient is a nationwide provider of wireless data solutions for Fortune 500 companies and the small to medium size enterprise business market. Motient simplifies the wireless experience for applications providers, hardware vendors, value added resellers and customers by offering multiple network options, proprietary applications, one source support and wireless consulting services that enhance the performance, efficiency and cost-effectiveness of enterprise wireless solutions.

http://www.motient.com

About SkyTerra Communications, Inc.

SkyTerra, through its 80% owned MSV Investors LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol.

LLC - Logical Link Control
 subsidiary, is an active participant in Mobile Satellite Ventures LP (the "MSV Joint Venture") and owns a stake in TerreStar Networks, Inc. Historically, SkyTerra has operated through a group of complementary companies in the telecommunications industry including the MSV Joint Venture and Hughes Network Systems Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HNS), is a provider of broadband satellite network products for businesses and consumers. HNS pioneered the development of high-speed satellite Internet access services and IP-based networks with its original DirecPC service but which it now markets , LLC ("HNS HNS Hughes Network Systems LLC
HNS Hrvatski Nogometni Savez (Croatian Football Federation)
HNS Head & Neck Surgery
HNS Hughes Network Systems, Inc.
"). In February 2006, SkyTerra distributed to its security holders all of the common stock of Hughes Communications Hughes Communications is a publicly traded company under the stock symbol of NASDAQ: HUGH since September 2006.

Hughes Communications is wholly owned by Apollo Management.

The principal business of Hughes Communications, Inc.
, Inc., formerly a wholly-owned subsidiary, which held SkyTerra's interests in HNS and all of SkyTerra's other businesses, other than its MSV Investors subsidiary.

About TerreStar Networks:

TerreStar Networks Inc. is an emerging provider of advanced mobile satellite services in North America with plans to develop, build and operate an innovative and spectrum-efficient spot beam satellite network in the 2GHz frequency band. TerreStar plans to offer a diverse mix of high-bandwidth services including voice, circuit-switched and packet-switched data, fax and paging to subscribers utilizing mobile and transportable terminals, including handheld devices.

http://www.terrestar.com

About Mobile Satellite Ventures:

Mobile Satellite Ventures LP (MSV) is developing the first hybrid satellite-terrestrial communications network, which will provide seamless, transparent and ubiquitous wireless coverage of the United States and Canada to conventional handsets. It has extensive patents on the technology and holds the first and only FCC license to provide hybrid satellite-terrestrial services. MSV plans to launch two satellites for coverage of the United States and Canada, which are expected to be among the largest and most powerful commercial satellites ever built. When completed, the network will support communications in a variety of areas including public safety, homeland security, aviation, transportation and entertainment, by providing a platform for interoperable, user-friendly and feature-rich voice and high-speed data services.

http://www.msvlp.com

Additional Information to be Filed with the SEC

Motient and SkyTerra each plan to file Registration Statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the proposed transactions. The Registration Statements will contain important information about Motient, SkyTerra, MSV, TerreStar, the transactions, and related matters. Investors and existing security holders are urged to read the Registration Statements carefully when they become available.

Investors and existing security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the Registration Statements and other documents filed with the SEC by Motient and SkyTerra through the investor relations Investor relations

The process by which the corporation communicates with its investors.
 sections of the web sites of the respective companies or through the EDGAR Edgar or Eadgar (both: ĕd`gər), 943?–975, king of the English (959–75), son of Edmund, king of Wessex. In 957 the Mercians and Northumbrians rebelled against Edgar's brother Edwy and chose Edgar as their king.  system available at the SEC web site at www.sec.gov.

Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and :

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, with respect to the strategy of each of SkyTerra and Motient, and their respective plans and the transactions described in this press release. Such statements generally include words such as could, can, anticipate, believe, expect, seek, pursue, proposed, potential and similar words and terms in connection with futures results, including the transactions described in this press release. Such forward-looking statements are subject to the following uncertainties: the ability of the parties to obtain the necessary regulatory approvals, including without limitation, actions by the Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission (FCC), independent executive agency of the U.S. government established in 1934 to regulate interstate and foreign communications in the public interest.  or to have the necessary registration statements declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other factors impacting the parties ability to consummate the transactions, as well as the ability of each of TerreStar and MSV to execute their business plans. We assume no obligation to update or supplement such forward-looking statements.
COPYRIGHT 2006 Business Wire
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2006, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Publication:Business Wire
Date:May 8, 2006
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