According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, MetroPCS went public with its buyout offer of Leap Wireless because a deal could not be reached behind closed doors. MetroPCS reached out to Leap's chairman Mark Rachesky, who controls 17 percent of the company's shares, and he rebuffed the offer. Leap will not comment publicly on the offer, so it is still unclear whether Leap is waffling on the price-tag or whether there is more to the story. Technology Business Research's John Byrne told FierceWireless yesterday that the two companies have "bad blood" between them, which may be one reason for MetroPCS's public bid and Leap's silence.
For more on the report:
- read this article from the WSJ (sub. req.)
- here's some previous coverage