Burnaby,
British Columbia –
, an operator
of 280 wireless retail outlets in Canada, will buy an 81.5 percent stake in
Diamond Wireless, the operator of 128 stores that exclusively sell Verizon
Wireless service in Western and Southern states.
The
transaction is expected to close on Oct. 1 at a purchase price of $50.5
million.
Glentel
also agreed to purchase the remaining stake in Salt Lake City-based Diamond in
the future under certain terms and conditions.
Glentel said Diamond would remain a
Verizon-exclusive agent and that existing management would be retained. Diamond
Wireless operates 128 stores (118 in malls) in Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, Utah,
Colorado, California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Hawaii. In Canada,
Glentel operates Wireless Wave stores.
Glentel said it made the move in part because
of growing competition from Canadian carriers that have become more aggressive
in selling consumers direct, in part by purchasing Canadian retail chains.
