Teletouch Announces New Subsidiary, Progressive Concepts, Inc., a Leading Cingular Master Distributor, Reseller and Top-10 MVNO
17 Août 2006 - 8:30PM
Business Wire
Teletouch Communications, Inc. (AMEX:TLL) announced today that on
August 11, 2006, it became the owner of all of the issued and
outstanding equity securities of Progressive Concepts, Inc.
("PCI"), based in Fort Worth, Texas. PCI is a leading Cingular(R)
Wireless Master Distributor, Reseller and Top-10 MVNO (Mobile
Virtual Network Operator), known in Texas and Arkansas under the
Hawk Electronics consumer brand name for over thirty years.
One-hundred-percent of the issued and outstanding equity securities
of PCI were contributed to Teletouch by TLL Partners, LLC ("TLLP"),
a Delaware limited liability company and the holder of more than
82% of Teletouch's outstanding common stock. Teletouch did not
issue any monetary or stock consideration in connection with the
equity contribution. The operating results of PCI will be
consolidated with those of Teletouch for financial reporting
purposes. Teletouch's existing business and the newly-acquired PCI
business will combine over 40 years of operating history in
multiple forms of direct and wholesale wireless product and service
sales, billing and customer service to consumer, business and
government users, including a unique distribution and reseller
co-branding relationship with Cingular(R) Wireless, sold under the
"Hawk Electronics" retail brand and "Hawk Corporate Communications"
name for direct sales to enterprise and government customers.
Related PCI operating units include PCI Marketing, a leading
cellular and automotive electronics wholesale distributor,
supporting a national commercial base of some 2,000 smaller
consumer electronics retailers and auto dealers for such leading
manufacturers as Motorola, Nokia, Sony, JVC, XM and Sirius
Satellite Radio, Digital Antenna, Blaupunkt, and many others. PCI
provides all of the cellular billing and customer service for its
own customer base, and retains a recurring revenue stream on all
monthly billed cellular airtime and data revenues, and one-time
revenue on all other cellular and non-cellular products and
services. After accounting for various discontinued operations,
including the previously announced sale of its paging business, TLL
consolidated fiscal year 2007 revenues are expected to increase to
approximately $92 to $95 million, of which roughly 60% is expected
to consist of recurring wireless services billing income. Teletouch
CEO, T. A. "Kip" Hyde, Jr. stated, "The Company will now serve
approximately 100,000 cellular, wireless messaging and two-way
radio subscribers, agents and independent retailers throughout our
region and the country. As we expand our cellular services
footprint, within our own distribution channels and through our
enterprise customers, we expect to see an exciting transition into
the high-growth mobile SMS, content delivery, MVNO and MVNE (Mobile
Virtual Network Enabler) businesses, as well as show solid internal
growth in our core consumer and wholesale cellular subscriber
bases. To realize our goal of becoming a leading mobile lifestyle
services provider, this structure provides Teletouch with a solid
platform for long-term growth." The current business of PCI is very
similar to the paging and two-way wireless services businesses that
Teletouch has provided for more than four decades. For over
twenty-years, PCI's core business has been in acquiring, billing,
and supporting now over 90,000 cellular subscribers under a unique,
recurring revenue relationship with Cingular Wireless. The consumer
services business is operated primarily under the Hawk Electronics
brand name, with business and government sales provided by the Hawk
Corporate Communications group. As a Master Distributor, MVNO and
MVNE, PCI controls the entire customer experience, including
initiating and maintaining the cellular service agreements, rating
the cellular plans, providing complete customer care, underwriting
new account acquisitions, and providing multi-service billing,
collections, and account maintenance. The original agreements
between PCI and Cingular (and its predecessors) span over twenty
years and now comprise a number of multi-year agreements in
specifically-contracted markets in Texas and Arkansas. Key to the
success of PCI has been its proprietary, internally-developed
cellular/multi-service billing and customer service platform
providing PCI with a distinct competitive advantage over other
entrants to this MVNO market. Not only does the platform provide
core post-paid cellular billing, the complete system allows PCI to
offer unique services to its subscribers, including:
consolidation/bundling of different products and services into one
monthly invoice; instant credit scoring; web-based bill payment;
and many advanced, real-time customer relationship management
("CRM") functions. For corporate and government customers, the
proprietary billing platform provides custom, highly-detailed
billing support and services generally not available from the
carriers themselves. This highly sophisticated billing system is
one of PCI's most important assets, and has been fully incorporated
into all aspects of the Company's cellular operations. Hyde
concluded, "Teletouch can now begin leveraging its combined
forty-plus years of telecommunications experience as it expands
into the Mobile Virtual Network Operator ("MVNO") and Mobile
Virtual Network Enabler ("MVNE") markets as a turnkey service
provider to retailers and other enterprise customers. We look
forward to the challenges and opportunities that we will face in
the years going forward in this exciting and large industry space."
More detailed information relating to TLL Partners, LLC's
contribution of PCI to Teletouch and the important contractual
arrangements executed in connection therewith may be found in the
Current Report on Form 8-K filed by Teletouch on August 17, 2006.
Further financial information will be filed by way of an amendment
to that Current Report which is required to be filed on or before
October 27, 2006. About Teletouch Communications and Progressive
Concepts, Inc. For over 40 years, Teletouch has offered a
comprehensive suite of telecommunications services, including
cellular, two-way radio communications, GPS-telemetry and wireless
messaging services throughout the United States. TLL acquires,
bills and supports a large, primarily commercial business and
government base of subscribers, under its own network of FCC
licensed spectrum in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Alabama,
Missouri, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Florida. With the addition of
PCI, Teletouch is now a leading U.S. provider of wireless voice,
data, and entertainment products and branded wireless services to
individuals, businesses, and government agencies through its chain
of retail stores (Hawk Electronics), branded sub-agents and direct
sales force in Texas and Arkansas. PCI also operates a significant
wholesale distribution business serving smaller cellular and
automotive retailers, car dealers and cellular service providers
throughout the country. Teletouch's common stock is traded on the
American Stock Exchange under stock symbol: TLL. Additional
information about Teletouch can be found at: www.teletouch.com. All
statements in this news release that are not based on historical
fact are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and the provisions
of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended
(which Sections were adopted as part of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995). While management has based any
forward-looking statements contained herein on its current
expectations, the information on which such expectations were based
may change. These forward-looking statements rely on a number of
assumptions concerning future events and are subject to a number of
risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are outside
of our control, that could cause actual results to materially
differ from such statements. Such risks, uncertainties, and other
factors include, but are not necessarily limited to, those set
forth under the caption "Additional Factors That May Affect Our
Business" in the Company's most recent Form 10-K and 10-Q filings,
and amendments thereto. In addition, we operate in a highly
competitive and rapidly changing environment, and new risks may
arise. Accordingly, investors should not place any reliance on
forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. We
disclaim any intention to, and undertake no obligation to, update
or revise any forward-looking statement. The registered trademarks
Cingular, Cingular Wireless and any derivatives thereof are fully
owned by, and all copyrighted and copyrightable materials,
including, without limitation, the design, text, graphics,
pictures, sound files and other files, and the selection and
arrangement thereof are ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Copyright (C) 1996-2006
Cingular Wireless II LLC and/or its licensors. All product or
service names discussed in relation to Teletouch Communications,
Inc., Progressive Concepts, Inc., Hawk Electronics and any other
affiliates are the property of their respective corporate owners.
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