A communications company caught in a bidding war between Verizon and AT&T has seen its stock explode over 500% in 3 months (T, VZ, STRP)

Monday, May 8, 2017

A communications company caught in a bidding war between Verizon and AT&T has seen its stock explode over 500% in 3 months (T, VZ, STRP)

Art auction Straight Path Communications, an owner of spectrum rights for fifth generation (5G) networks, has been the subject of a heated bidding war between two wireless giants.

AT&T originally targeted Straight Path in April for a takeover bid, offering $1.6 billion.

A round of counter-offers from what Straight Path has called a “multi-national telecommunications company” has pushed the latest price tag to $3.1 billion in a bid announced on Monday.

An unnamed counter-bidder also entered offers against AT&T of $1.8 and $2.3 billion. According to reports, the counter-bidder is in fact Verizon.

AT&T will have three days to offer a revised bid for the firm.

Straight Path’s ownership of 5G networks is key for both AT&T and Verizon in their push to move to faster and faster networks. The firm is the third-largest owner of spectrum licenses that could be used for 5G, according to Bloomberg.

Following the announcement of the newest bid, Straight Path shares soared by 27% in pre-market trading on Monday, a jump of roughly $43 a share to $205.12 at 8:47 a.m. ET. As recently as April 7, Straight Path was trading for around $36 a share, over the last three months shares have gained 515%.

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