AT&T to acquire Cricket

AT&T said last week it plans to acquire Leap Wireless, parent company of the Cricket brand, with an offer of $15 per share in cash (about $1.2 billion). Under the proposal, AT&T will also assume Leap’s $2.8 billion of net debt. 


In a release, AT&T said it would maintain the Cricket brand name, and look to expand its presence into additional U.S. cities. Leap’s network covers about 96 million people in 25 states.

The company said the acquisition would be “increased competition, better device choices, improved customer care and a significantly enhanced mobile Internet experience” for pre-paid wireless customers.