Updates on ATLANTIC TELE-NETWORK and INTACT FINANCIAL CORP.

Article Excerpt

ATLANTIC TELE-NETWORK $43.57 (Nasdaq symbol ATNI; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (340- 777-8000; www.atni.com; Shares outstanding: 15.6 million; Market cap: $676.7 million; Yield: 2.3%) has agreed to sell its Alltel wireless business to AT&T (symbol T on New York) for cash of $780 million. In April 2010, Atlantic bought Alltel from Verizon Wireless for $223 million. AT&T is paying a big premium for Alltel (the sale price amounts to a profit of 250% for Atlantic in under three years) because it not only includes 585,000 subscribers but also considerable wireless spectrum. AT&T needs this spectrum to keep expanding its 4G long-term evolution (LTE) wireless networks. LTE networks are up to five times faster than those in use today, but they use up much more spectrum. After the sale, Atlantic Tele-Network will still have telecom operations in the U.S. southwest, New England, New York State, Guyana, Bermuda and portions of the Caribbean islands. The company will also have a very large cash holding,…