(Bloomberg) — Verizon Communications Inc., the biggest wireless carrier in the US, will buy some of US Cellular Corp.’s spectrum licenses for $1 billion as the tower operator sheds parts of its portfolio.
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The transaction, and agreements with two other mobile network operators, are contingent on closing a deal announced in May to sell wireless operations and some of its spectrum assets to T-Mobile US Inc., US Cellular said in a statement Friday.
The announcement came amid a push for US wireless companies to focus more on their core business. Verizon last month sold the right to lease thousands of towers in a deal that allowed it to lease back capacity. US Cellular’s May T-Mobile deal was for $4.4 billion including cash and debt.
US Cellular controls one of the largest tower businesses in the US. It will still hold some spectrum if the deals close, and is continuing to “opportunistically monetize these retained assets,” according to the statement.
Shares of US Cellular rose 9.1% Friday morning in New York while Verizon was little changed.
(Updates with shares. A previous version of this story was corrected to remove reference to US Cellular being privately held.)
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