Customers pass the GCI store at the Dimond Center Mall in Anchorage in August 2016. In a deal announced April 4, GCI will sell a controlling interest to Colorado-based Liberty Interactive Corp. for $1.12 billion. No changes in company structure or management are planned; the deal benefits Liberty by allowing it to spin off an asset-backed subsidiary in a tax-free transaction. GCI shareholders will receive a 58 percent premium on their shares, or $32.50. (Photo/Andrew Jensen/AJOC)

Colorado firm buys GCI for $1.12 billion

By ANDREW JENSEN
Wednesday, April 5, 2017 10:18am
News State & Legislature

ANCHORAGE — It was a good day to be a shareholder in General Communication Inc.

Shares of the Anchorage-based telecom leapt 62 percent, from $20.56 to close at $33.39, after a deal was announced April 4 to sell a controlling interest to Colorado-based Liberty Interactive Corp. for $1.12 billion that included a huge premium on existing shares.

The deal will pay existing GCI shareholders $32.50 per share; the company’s stock has traded between $12 and $20 over the previous year.

To read the full story, click here: http://www.alaskajournal.com/2017-04-04/colorado-firm-buys-gci-112-billion.

Juneauites crowd the GCI store near Juneau International Airport on Saturday, April 2, 2016 for the launch of GCI’s gigabit Internet service. Juneau is the third location in the state, after Anchorage and the Mat-Su, to receive the service. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)