CARY, N.C. — SpectraSite Holdings, one of the nation's largest cell-phone tower operators, has agreed to sell its tower construction business to the division's managers.
The company, which filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this month, said Wednesday that an investment group backed by the managers will buy the business for an undisclosed sum. SpectraSite bought the assets from the same executives in September 1999 for an estimated $315 million.
The network services division was supposed to help SpectraSite's bottom line, allowing it to provide more services to the mobile-phone carriers the company serves. But construction slowed as the economy did, with the unit accounting for 53 percent of SpectraSite's revenue last year, down from 66 percent in 2000.
About 60 percent of SpectraSite's 1,600 workers will be transferred to the new company, called WesTower Corp., by the end of the year, officials said.
SpectraSite for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this month, citing liabilities of $1.74 billion. Companies holding two-thirds of the company's bonds said they would forgo repayment in exchange for all the stock in SpectraSite when it emerges from Chapter 11.