ViaSat Finalizes Acquisition of Denver-based WildBlue

By Space News Staff

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Mark Dankberg, ViaSat chief executive. Credit: ViaSat photo Enlarge Image

Satellite broadband hardware builder ViaSat Inc. on Dec. 15, 2009, completed its purchase of satellite broadband service provider WildBlue Communications, ViaSat announced.

Carlsbad, Calif.-based ViaSat and Denver-based WildBlue, which has more than 400,000 subscribers, announced in October that ViaSat would purchase 100 percent of WildBlue for $443 million in cash and $125 million in ViaSat stock.

ViaSat told investors that WildBlue brings to ViaSat $70 million to $80 million in cash, plus tax losses to be transferred to ViaSat valued at $45 million, bringing the effective purchase price down to $440 million to $450 million.

ViaSat plans to launch its large all-Ka-band ViaSat-1 satellite in early 2011 to build WildBlue’s subscriber base. WildBlue currently uses Ka-band capacity on Telesat’s Anik F1 and its own WildBlue-1 satellite.

“The WildBlue acquisition advances our entry into the Ka-band broadband service business by over a year and more completely establishes the financial and strategic framework to capture the value anticipated from the ViaSat-1 satellite,” ViaSat Chief Executive Mark Dankberg said in a Dec. 15 statement.