Verizon to Buy Wireless Reseller TracFone for $6.25 Billion

By Drew FitzGerald

Verizon Communications Inc. said it has agreed to buy wireless reseller TracFone for about $6.25 billion in cash and stock, bringing the country's largest reseller of cellphone services under the wing of the country's biggest wireless provider.

TracFone, a unit of Mexico's América Móvil SAB, operates in the U.S. under its namesake brand as well as StraightTalk and Net10. The company doesn't run its own physical network in the U.S. and instead rides on other cellphone carriers' systems for a fee.

About 13 million of TracFone's 21 millions subscribers already use Verizon's network through an existing agreement.

Verizon said the deal will include about $3.125 billion of cash and $3.125 billion in Verizon shares. TracFone could get an additional $650 million cash payment tied to some performance measures and other commercial arrangements.

Write to Drew FitzGerald at andrew.fitzgerald@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 14, 2020 08:28 ET (12:28 GMT)

America Movil SAB de CV (NYSE:AMOV)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024