Verizon agrees to sell unit for about $800 million

New York: Verizon Communications, the top US local telephone company, said on Monday it has agreed to sell a wholly owned unit for about $800 million to GTCR Golder Rauner LLC, a Chicago-based private equity investment firm.

The deal for TSI Telecommunication Services Inc., a provider of transaction-based call processing, technical interoperability and network services for wireless telecommunications carriers, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2002, Verizon said.

“The decision to divest TSI was driven by Verizon’s need to remain sharply focused on residential and business services,” Tom Bartlett, president of Verizon Global Solutions, said in a statement.

The proceeds from the sale will be used for high-growth opportunities and general corporate purposes, Verizon said.

TSI, founded in 1987, has 800 employees, about 750 of whom are located in Tampa, Florida, where the company is based. It provides wireless call processing services such as roaming subscriber validation, call delivery and fraud management, and serves more than 260 telecom providers in North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific and Europe. (Reuters)