Straight Path Communications said on Monday an unnamed telecommunications company had raised its offer to buy the wireless spectrum holder, in the latest move in a bidding war with AT&T.
The unnamed company is Verizon Communications (VZ), sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The all-stock offer of $184 per share represents an enterprise value of about $3.1 billion, Straight Path said.
The offer reflects an equity value of about $2.3 billion, according to Reuters calculations.
That tops AT&T’s (T) offer of $95.63 per share or $1.25 billion, which was announced last month.
Straight Path’s shares (STRP) jumped nearly 26.3% to $204 in premarket trading on Monday. Shares of Verizon and AT&T were largely unchanged.
Straight Path, which holds a large trove of 28 GHz and 39 GHz millimeter wave spectrum used in mobile communications, would give a new owner an advantage in 5G development.
Verizon and AT&T are seeking to gain an edge in the race to develop a fifth-generation network (5G) that would offer faster downloads and boost internet-reliant products such as self-driving cars.
Straight Path also reiterated that the unnamed bidder would cover the termination fee of $38 million that Straight Path would be required to pay AT&T if Straight Path picked another buyer.
The unnamed company had last week offered $135.96 per share for Straight Path and Monday’s bid tops that offer, Straight Path said.
