Anterix receives ‘inbound interest’ in company, seeks financial advice from Morgan StanleyAnterix receives ‘inbound interest’ in company, seeks financial advice from Morgan Stanley

Anterix today announced that it received “inbound interest in the company,” so it has engaged Morgan Stanley as its financial advisor “to support a formal strategic review process for the company,” which has enabled utilities and other critical-infrastructure entities to leverage 900 MHz private wireless broadband.

Anterix President and CEO Scott Lang said company officials are not surprised by the interest in Anterix, given the firm’s position in the marketplace.

“As the leading provider of private wireless broadband, zero debt, and a strong customer pipeline, it does not surprise us that we have had some inbound strategic interest to participate with us in our efforts,” Lang said in a prepared statement.

“Accordingly, we have turned to the leaders in this field, Morgan Stanley. With them, we will review strategic opportunities to capitalize on the value that lies in front of us, with a focus on what is in the best interest of our shareholders, customers and employees. I am excited to work with Morgan Stanley on this strategic review and equally excited to see the extensive utility interest in the evolution of our product offering.”

Anterix did not provide a timetable for the strategic review and does not plan to make further announcements about the process, other than those necessary to meet legal and regulatory requirements, according to a company press release.

Anterix also announced a new “industry engagement initiative” that is designed to help its customers deploy 900 MHz private wireless broadband networks more quickly, according to an Anterix press release. This effort will include “a significant review of pricing, payment and ownership terms, as well as the potential for collaboration with strategic partners on additional products and services” with the Anterix ecosystem, the press release states.

“Anterix has more experience regarding how to enable private networks for utilities than anyone,” Lang said in a prepared statement. “With this new initiative, we are going to aggressively evolve our product offering to build on that success. With our seven customers across fifteen states, our 120+ member ecosystem, and our fantastic team, we are poised to continue to capture the growing utility wireless broadband marketplace.”

Anterix is scheduled to conduct its quarterly earnings call tomorrow, but the company today reported that it has no debt, cash and cash equivalents of $28.8 million, and about $147 million in contracted proceeds outstanding. The company also cited a $3 billion pipeline of potential business across more than 60 possible customers.

In the wake of these announcements, the Anterix stock price increased by 26.79% today, reaching $36.16 per share.

These news items follow the FCC approving rules last month that would allow Anterix to expand its current 3x3 MHz spectrum holdings in the 900 MHz band to potentially 5x5 MHz, which could be used to support greater broadband capacity on the private networks owned by utilities and other customers.  

In December, Anterix named utility-industry veteran Tom Kuhn as the company’s chairman of the board as longtime leader Morgan O’Brien stepped down.

It was O’Brien who initiated the vision of transforming 900 MHz spectrum that was used to support LMR communications to a 3x3 MHz swath for LTE-based private wireless broadband networks. Initially proposed in 2014, the FCC did not approve the enabling rules until May 2020.