Brightpoint buys CellStar assets

Brightpoint yesterday said it is shelling out $88 million for its competitor CellStar’s North American assets, giving the Indianapolis-based logistics company an even firmer lock on the U.S. phone distribution market and extending its reach to Latin America.

Brightpoint officials said they expected the deal to close in March or April of next year, and it plans to fund the acquisition with a combination of reserved cash and loans. But they expect the deal to pay dividends immediately. According to Brightpoint’s calculations, the CellStar assets would bring in $450 million in revenues in its first quarter.

Brightpoint will buy all of CellStar’s U.S. operations and its Latin American business based in Miami, but it will not take over CellStar’s affiliates in Mexico and Chile. CellStar has distribution agreements in place with Motorola, Kyocera, Nokia and Palm, and it provides logistics and fulfillment for Sprint.

Brightpoint has been rapidly shoring up its distribution business in the U.S., having recently signing a deal with T-Mobile. With the acquisition CellStar, Brightpoint estimates it will touch half of all wireless devices sold in North America in 2007.