Telephone & Data Systems Inc. launched an initiative that could allow it to buy the remaining stake in U.S. Cellular Corp. that it doesn’t already own and make the cellular unit a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, according to a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
TDS currently owns 82 percent of U.S. Cellular.
The TDS board of directors earlier this year approved a proposal that would increase the authorized number of special common shares of TDS from 20 million to 165 million. The proposal will be submitted to the company’s shareholders at a special meeting.
The proposal is being initiated to permit TDS at some point to offer the special shares in exchange for common shares of U.S. Cellular, as well as for other corporate purposes. The company said the plan allows it to pursue the U.S. Cellular acquisition or other corporate initiatives without diluting the voting power of its series A common shares.
The company did not give a timeframe for a possible U.S. Cellular transaction.
U.S. Cellular serves 5.1 million customers in 25 states.
