Alltel purchase speculation picking up steam

More reports about the possible purchase of Alltel surfaced today as the Wall Street Journal and Reuters both wrote that at least three separate consortiums of private investors are competing for the chance to take the country’s largest Tier II provider private.

The Journal and Reuters, citing unnamed sources, reported that the Blackstone Group and Providence Equity Partners have teamed up to bid for Alltel, which--with just $2.7 billion in annual debt and the roughly the same amount of annual cash flow--makes it an attractive takeover target for a private equity firm. The Journal also reported that TPG Capital and the private equity arm of Goldman Sachs have formed a second partnership to compete for Alltel as well as the Carlyle Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR).

Neither the Journal nor Reuters reported that the groups had made specific bids, but analysts have speculated that Alltel could bring in as much as $70 a share in a leveraged buyout. Alltel shares were trading at over $66 today on the New York Stock Exchange. Its current market capitalization is almost $30 billion. Any buyout of Alltel would require a private equity firm to place a massive amount of debt on Alltel’s books, which could easily support more considering its healthy balance sheet.

Alltel acquisition rumors have been circulating for months, particularly speculation about Verizon Wireless acquiring the company and its 12 million CDMA subscribers. Verizon Wireless seems to have had little trouble growing its subscriber base organically in recent quarters, making an Alltel acquisition more and more unlikely as the share price of the company continues to escalate.