BN Advanced Radio Rises on Talks for Equity Investment (Update1)
Mar 31, 1999 16:43
Bellevue, Washington, March 31 (Bloomberg) -- Shares of Advanced Radio Telecom Corp., a telecommunications company, rose 11 percent after it said it's talking with several parties about taking an equity stake in the company.
Bellevue, Washington-based Advanced Radio, which plans to build high-speed communications networks in 100 U.S. cities, rose 1 1/8 to 11 1/2 in trading of 972,500, more than double the three-month daily average.
An equity investment would unlock a separate loan of as much as $200 million from Lucent Technologies Inc., which will loan Advance Radio $2 for every $1 of equity funding invested up to that amount, the company said. An Advanced Radio spokeswoman declined to comment on who the company is talking to or how much it hopes to raise.
"They need the money. They've said they have enough money to run the business into June," said Bo Fifer, a BT Alex. Brown Inc. analyst, who rates the stock a "buy."
On conference calls with analysts and investors, Advanced Radio said it hoped to unveil an investment during the first quarter, which ends today, spokeswoman Lori Lawrenson said.
"You don't want to not get the best deal done just to meet an artificial deadline," though the company wants to reassure investors that it's still in talks, she said.
Advanced Radio is using Lucent as its equipment provider and service integrator as it builds so-called fixed-wireless and fiber-optics networks. Fixed-wireless technology connects its network to businesses and buildings that don't have access to access to fiber-optic lines.
The equity investment and Lucent loan together "will be enough money for them to roll out their West Coast footprint," from San Diego to San Francisco and into Washington, Fifer said.
Lucent, the world's largest maker of phone equipment, in July gave Advanced Radio a $25 million loan commitment to build networks in Seattle, Phoenix, and Portland, Oregon.
--Alan M. Wolf in Washington |
