Thursday, October 1, 2009

WildBlue Communications Acquired By ViaSat

Greenwood Village, Colorado-based WildBlue Communications, a provider of satellite broadband services, has been acquired by California-based ViaSat, ViaSat said this morning. The deal is worth $568M in cash and stock. According to ViaSat, the buy will help the firm accelerate growth, and also help to expand WildBlue's broadband services. The two have been partners for over ten years. As part of the deal, the firms said that Liberty Media will become a "significant shareholder" of ViaSat, and will have a representative on the board. Intelsat, Tennenbaum Capital Partners, the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers all will become shareholders in ViaSat as part of the buy.