WildBlue Communications, which provides broadband connectivity via satellite, completed a $350 million debt financing led by Liberty Media Corporation and Tennenbaum Capital Partners LLC.
The credit facility refinances a portion of the shareholder financing WildBlue secured in January of 2006, and also provides $170 million of additional financing for the company.
http://www.wildblue.com
- In June 2006, WildBlue Communications signed five year wholesale distribution agreements with both DIRECTV and EchoStar Communications for its broadband Internet access via satellite.
- In May 2006, AT&T began selling satellite-based broadband Internet access service, powered by WildBlue, to rural customers across its 13-state territory.
- WildBlue’s next Ka-band spot beam satellite, WildBlue-1, has been scheduled for launch aboard an Ariane 5 vehicle in Q4 2006. WildBlue-1, manufactured by Space Systems/Loral, will approximately triple WildBlue’s customer capacity, and is expected to handle WildBlue’s continuing rapid customer growth into 2008 and beyond. WildBlue-1 is a 4.7 metric ton high power satellite based on Space Systems/Loral’s 1300 spacecraft bus and provides Ka-band spot beam capacity over the contiguous United States.