Management buyout at IPWireless

Twelve months after buying TDD 3G solutions developer IPWireless for US$100 million, NextWave has sold 75 per cent of the company for just US$1 million. The buyer was a consortium made up of the original IPWireless management team led by founder William Jones. Apparently the new owners, who will also have to fund the deal's transaction costs of US$500,000, have found themselves an unnamed but seemingly affluent new backer who is prepared to supply long-term funding. NextWave Wireless will retain a minority stake in the new, privately-owned company that will continue to be based at its locations in the UK and California.

IPWireless, founded in 1999, focused its attention, with some success, on the underused Time Division Duplex (TDD) spectrum allocated to 3G operators. Its TDtv mobile TV technology underwent successful trials in the UK in 2007 and a commercial pilot was launched in London in early 2008. IPWireless also provided the infrastructure for T-Mobile's 'Internet 4G' service in the Czech Republic which currently delivers over 10 Terabytes of data a day.

For more:
- go to The Register and Cellular News

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