He’s up! He’s down! He’s out — but maybe not!
As so with a couple of heavyweight boxers trading blows into the late rounds, Charlie Ergen and Phil Falcone’s long, drawn-out battle over wireless start-up LightSquared took another dramatic twist Tuesday — this time putting satellite mogul Ergen back on top.
LightSquared told a Bankruptcy Court judge that Centerbridge Partners, a private equity firm, backed out of a $5 billion deal to purchase the company out of bankruptcy.
The reversal came just five days after Centerbridge emerged as LightSquared’s white knight by agreeing to buy Falcone’s start-up for $3.3 billion in cash and the assumption of $1.7 billion in debt.
Under the now-withdrawn Centerbridge plan, Falcone and his Harbinger Capital hedge fund would have retained an equity stake in the wireless network — while seeming to block his arch-nemesis Ergen from getting his hands on its valuable spectrum.
Harbinger is currently LightSquared’s largest equity investor, and Falcone has been struggling to maintain his hold on it since before it fell into bankruptcy last year.
Falcone invested in LightSquared in 2010 with dreams of building a nationwide 4G wireless network — until regulators sank it by not giving it a license.
That’s opened the door for Ergen, who wants the spectrum, which can be used to build out a wireless network to go along with his satellite offerings. Falcone has fought hard to keep Ergen and his Dish Network away.
The fight recently turned nasty, including a lawsuit by Harbinger earlier this year accusing Ergen of improperly buying up LightSquared’s debt.
The debt forbids rivals from owning it. Ergen formed a separate company to buy the debt on the sly, the lawsuit said.
Still, Ergen appeared to gain the upper hand as he was set to bid on the spectrum during a court auction.
Falcone came back and gained the advantage with the Centerbridge offer.
With Centerbridge’s exit, Ergen is back in the game.
But Falcone is confident he can come up with another deep-pocketed investor, sources said.
Harbinger is already working on a new deal with private equity firm Fortress, JPMorgan and Mast Capital Management, said a person familiar with the talks.
All three entities currently own stakes in LightSquared that may not be covered by Ergen’s $2.2 billion bid.
Fortress and JPM own preferred shares, said a person with knowledge of the deal. Mast Capital, meanwhile, has a financial stake in a line of spectrum that would not be purchased by Ergen.
If Falcone is serious, he’d better hurry.
The final round is nigh — the deadline for bids is Dec. 24, sources said.