Sprint offers to guarantee Alamosa, AirGate notes in consent solicitation

New York, March 27 - Sprint Nextel Corp. is planning a consent solicitation in which it will offer to guarantee notes of Alamosa (Delaware) Inc. and Airgate PCS, Inc.

Covered by the solicitation are Alamosa's $233.291 million 12% senior discount notes due 2009, $250.561 million 11% senior notes due 2010 and $250 million 8½% senior notes due 2012 along with AirGate's $175 million first priority senior secured floating-rate notes due 2011 and $158.85 million 9 3/8% senior subordinated secured notes due 2009, according to an S-3 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In return for the guarantee, Sprint Nextel is seeking to amend covenants in the note indentures in order to give it more operational flexibility. Specifically, Sprint Nextel wants to:

• Modify the definition of asset sale to exclude any transfer or sale of assets from Alamosa or AirGate or their restricted subsidiaries to Sprint Nextel or any of its other direct or indirect subsidiaries;

• Permit Alamosa and AirGate to provide Sprint Nextel's reports and other information filed with the SEC to the holders of the notes instead of separate reports and information relating only to Alamosa and AirGate; and

• Modify the affiliate transactions covenant to permit Alamosa and AirGate and their respective restricted subsidiaries to engage in transactions with Sprint Nextel and any of its other direct or indirect subsidiaries so long as the transactions are on terms no less favorable to Alamosa and AirGate than would have been obtained in comparable transactions with an unrelated person. Sprint Nextel would not have to obtain an independent fairness opinion or, except above a certain dollar threshold, the approval of Alamosa's and AirGate's boards of directors.

No timing has yet been set for the solicitation.

Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. will be solicitation agent.

Sprint Nextel is a Reston, Va., telecommunications company.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.