IDT Corp. Acquires Remaining 5% of Winstar
|
NEWARK, N.J., Apr 17, 2002 IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDTB, IDT), a leading multinational carrier and telephone company, today announced that it has repurchased the five percent (5.0%) block of units of Winstar Holdings, LLC it did not already own from WCI Capital Corp. in exchange for 792,079 shares of IDT Class B Common Stock.
As a result of this transaction, IDT Corporation now owns 100% of the interests in Winstar Holdings, LLC, which operates the Winstar business through its various subsidiaries.
"We're totally committed to making Winstar a very profitable part of IDT," said Howard Jonas, IDT's chairman. "That's why we wanted all of it. Five percent may not sound like much now. But it's going to add up to a substantial amount for our shareholders in the future."
"We're working on a number of exciting opportunities for Winstar," said Brian Finkelstein, the Chief Executive Officer of Winstar. "More and more companies are recognizing the need for reliable back-up systems for all their communications needs. When our ongoing strategic reorganization of the company is fully implemented, Winstar will be in an excellent position to profitably supply those needs."
IDT announced on March 8, 2002, that Winstar has begun exiting its fixed wireless operations in cities in which they are unprofitable while at the same time adding approximately 600 new buildings in the 22 cities in which it is remaining. These new buildings will bring the Winstar network to roughly 4,000 buildings.
"Winstar is an excellent fit with IDT's existing telecommunications business," said Jim Courter, IDT's CEO and Vice Chairman. "Consolidating IDT's ownership interest will allow us to expedite the reorganization of Winstar's operations, after which it will be poised to be a major contributor to our profitability in the future."
Winstar's unique fixed wireless network bypasses local phone companies to deliver the last-mile connection for its customers, and is capable of providing redundancy for businesses and others seeking back-up services. This redundancy enabled Winstar to provide uninterrupted telephone service in lower Manhattan to customers and to the federal government's disaster relief operations following the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center towers.
IDT CORPORATION
IDT, through its IDT Telecom subsidiary, is a leading facilities-based, multinational carrier that provides a broad range of telecommunications services to its retail and wholesale customers worldwide. Through its own national telecommunications backbone and fiber optic network infrastructure, IDT Telecom provides its customers with integrated and competitively priced international and domestic long distance telephony and prepaid calling cards. IDT Media is the IDT subsidiary principally responsible for the Company's initiatives in media, new video technologies and print media. Through its various subsidiaries, IDT has interests in several telecom, Internet-related and media companies. IDT recently acquired Winstar Communications. IDT Corporation common shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbols IDT.B and IDT. As of March 15,2002, there were 47,010,887 shares of Class B common stock (IDT.B) outstanding, and 19,088,116 shares of common stock (IDT).
Except for historical information, all of the expectations and Assumptions contained in the foregoing are forward-looking statements, within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, involving risks and uncertainties. These statements refer to our plans to implement our growth strategy, improve our financial performance, expand our infrastructure, develop new products and services, expand our customer base and enter international markets. The forward looking statements also include our expectations concerning factors affecting the markets for our products, including the demand for long distance telecommunications, and Internet access services. These forward looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results that we anticipate. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those risks discussed in this release. In addition to the factors specifically noted in the forward looking statements, other important factors that could result in those differences include (a) general economic conditions in the telecommunications and Internet markets, including inflation,recession, interest rates, and other economic factors; (b) casualty to or other disruption of our facilities and operations; (c) those discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10K for the period ended July 31, 2001 and (d) other factors that generally affect the business of telecommunications, Internet and other communications companies. We assume no obligation to update these forward looking statements or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from the results anticipated in the forward looking statements.
|
Apr 17, 2002 |
Give Feedback |
|