Tektronix, Inc. (NYSE: TEK) today announced its intention to offer, subject to market and
other conditions, $300 million principal amount of Senior Convertible Notes
due 2012 through offerings to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to
Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities
Act”). The notes will be convertible under certain circumstances. Upon
conversion, holders will receive cash up to the principal amount, and any
excess conversion value will be delivered, at our election, in cash, common
stock or a combination of cash and common stock. Tektronix also expects to
grant the initial purchasers an option to purchase additional notes to
cover overallotments.
In addition, Tektronix expects to enter into separate convertible note
hedge and warrant transactions with one or more of the initial purchasers
of the notes and/or their affiliates. These transactions are intended to
reduce potential dilution to Tektronix common stock upon potential future
conversion of the notes and generally have the effect on the company of
increasing the conversion price of the notes. In connection with these
transactions, the hedge counterparties have advised Tektronix that they or
their affiliates may enter into various derivative transactions with
respect to Tektronix’ common stock concurrently with or shortly following
pricing of the notes. These activities could have the effect of increasing
or preventing a decline in the price of Tektronix common stock concurrently
or following the pricing of the notes. In addition, the hedge
counterparties or their affiliates may from time to time, following the
pricing of the notes, enter into or unwind various derivative transactions
with respect to Tektronix common stock and/or purchase or sell Tektronix
common stock in secondary market transactions. These activities could have
the effect of decreasing the price of Tektronix common stock and could
affect the price of the notes.
Tektronix expects to use a portion of the net proceeds from the
offering to repurchase approximately $100 million worth of shares of its
common stock in privately negotiated transactions contemporaneously with
the closing of the sale of the notes. In addition, net proceeds from the
offering will be used to fund the net cost of the above-described
convertible note hedge and warrant transactions. Any remaining net proceeds
from the offering will be used to repurchase additional shares of Tektronix
common stock under the company’s share repurchase program and for general
corporate purposes.
This notice does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of
an offer to buy securities. Any offers of the securities will be made only
by means of a private offering memorandum. The securities and the shares of
Tektronix common stock issuable upon conversion or exercise of the
securities have not been, and will not be, registered under the Securities
Act or the securities laws of any other jurisdiction and may not be offered
or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption
from registration requirements.
About Tektronix
Tektronix is a leading supplier of test, measurement, and monitoring
products, solutions and services for the communications, computer, and
semiconductor industries - as well as military/aerospace, consumer
electronics, education and a broad range of other industries worldwide.
Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, Tektronix has operations in 19
countries worldwide.
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US wireline operator Qwest has launched a new mobile broadband service in partnership with Sprint Nextel. The CDMA2000 1xEV-DO service is available under three packages offering 500MB, 600MB or unlimited data transfer each month, with tariffs beginning at USD69.99 plus a one-off payment of USD49.99 for the Qwest Mobile Broadband laptop card. Qwest operates in a local service area that consists of 14 states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
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The US wireless ISP Clearwire says it has completed the first phase of its field trials of 802.16e mobile WiMAX technology. The trials, which covered a 15 square mile area in the suburbs of Portland in Oregon, were carried out in conjunction with Intel and Motorola. The firms will now expand the tests, with the second phase covering 145 square miles. Clearwire is currently using its 2.5GHz spectrum to provide pre-WiMAX wireless broadband services in more than 30 US markets. It expects to upgrade its networks and launch its first mobile WiMAX services next year. More information on WiMAX deployments can be found in TeleGeography’s WiMAX Market Tracking Service.
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Mobile operators have barely rolled out their new third-generation wireless networks, and they’re already talking about the fourth generation. As next-generation cellular technologies — including those of the Long Term Evolution (LTE) project, whose mission is to guide the evolution of GSM cellular networks — have trouble getting off the ground, the industry has been turning its attention toward the WiMax packet-based technology.
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WiMax, which is similar to another packet-based wireless technology, Wi-Fi, already has the foundation for a strong ecosystem thanks to support from handset and infrastructure makers including Motorola, Samsung and Nokia, as well as from chipmaker Intel.
These companies are all expected to have WiMax products in the market sometime this year, and some will be shown off at CTIA. Samsung, for example, is expected to have on hand some of its already-announced WiMax-ready gear, including a handset, ultra-mobile PC and a new USB dongle that offers wireless broadband for laptops.
The WiMax Forum, the industry group that promotes the technology, has almost completed the necessary certification requirements for new products, another major step that could help push deployment. According to Shakouri, products using the 2.3GHz spectrum, which is used primarily in South Korea, will be certified by mid-year. Products using the 3.5GHz will be certified in the third quarter, and products using the 2.5GHz spectrum, which is used mostly in the US, will have certification available by the end of the year.
WiMax, whose transmission distances range from a few hundred feet in densely populated areas to more than a mile in suburban areas, can support peak data speeds of 20 megabits per second, although average-user data rates fall between 2Mbps and 8Mbps. Data rates for the next-stage 3G cellular service — sometimes called 3.5G — are about 3Mbps.
1.Asian markets lead the way
Momentum among carriers is already building. In Japan more WiMax-compatible spectrum will be allocated by the government later this year. Korea Telecom in South Korea is already committed to launching its WiMax service this year. There are also plans to launch WiMax services in India, Malaysia and Pakistan, as well as in parts of Eastern Europe, Shakouri said. And the government in Taiwan is spending $1bn (£510m) to encourage the manufacture and development of 2.5GHz WiMax products and applications.
In the US, Sprint, the number-three carrier, has already said it plans to spend $3bn in the next two years to build a WiMax network, which is expected to be able to provide service to 100 million people by the end of 2008. Sprint is using its existing 2.5GHz spectrum, half of which it acquired from its merger with Nextel, to deliver the new service.
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Sprint had previously announced that Chicago and Baltimore/Washington DC would be the first two markets to get the service, by the end of 2007. And Nokia had also previously named it would develop four markets, in Texas, for deployment in early 2008: Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio.
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