The FCC okayed a request from carrier Windstream to approve a partial foreign ownership stake in the telecom company that exceeds the agency’s 20 percent foreign ownership cap. Windstream says the authorization will enable it to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The International Bureau sought input on Windstream’s request in March, but didn’t receive any comments or opposition. Windstream told the FCC that it commits “for as long as it is structured as a limited liability company, to monitor its ownership and file with the Commission an annual certification that it is in compliance with the Commission’s foreign ownership rules.”
The Commission’s okay is conditioned on compliance by Windstream, its members and subsidiaries. The FCC determined the public interest would not be served by prohibiting the foreign ownership of Windstream, the controlling U.S. parent, in excess of the 25 percent benchmarks in section 310(b)(4) of the Communications Act.
The FCC’s grant is also conditioned by the carrier’s compliance with a January 2023 letter of agreement from Windstream President/CEO Tony Thomas, to the “Chief, Foreign Investment Review Section and Deputy Chief, Compliance and Enforcement, on behalf of the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, United States Department of Justice National Security Division,” stated the FCC.
According to the carrier, upon completion of the next step of the transaction, Windstream would have an aggregate indirect foreign equity interest of 66.29 percent. According to Windstream’s restated petition, Nexus Aggregator L.P., a Delaware limited partnership, would hold a 49.27 percent equity interest in Windstream upon closing. Elliott International, L.P. , a Cayman Islands entity, would hold a 69.57 percent equity interest, as an insulated limited partner, in Nexus Aggregator L.P. Elliott International Limited, also a Cayman Islands entity, holds a 99.90 percent equity interest in Elliott International, and Elliott International Limited is ultimately held by insulated entities, none of which hold a disclosable interest.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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