Brightstar Corporation Announces Agreement To Divest Its 50% Interest In Its European Joint Venture To Tech Data Corporation

Brightstar Corporation, the world's largest specialized wireless distribution and services company, has reached an agreement to sell its 50 percent ownership interest in Brightstar Europe Limited (BEL) to Tech Data Corporation

. Under the terms of the agreement, Tech Data will pay Brightstar approximately $165.6 million in cash. Brightstar will use the proceeds from the transaction for investment, expansion, and general corporate purposes. As a result of this transaction, Brightstar Corporation's book value will increase by approximately US$92 million to approximately US$675 million on a pro-forma basis as of March 31, 2012. "Tech Data has been a great partner, and in just five years, we have jointly grown BEL from a startup to a leader in the European mobility distribution industry," said R. Marcelo Claure, Brightstar's Chairman and CEO. "We are now looking forward to operating in Europe under a Brightstar Corp fully-owned subsidiary and making our broad suite of services, including distribution, available to customers across Europe." As part of the agreement, BEL's handset protection & insurance and buy-back & trade-in customers will be transferred to, and serviced, by Brightstar. The agreement also provides the opportunity for certain employees at BEL to join Brightstar's European operations in order to continue servicing the handset protection & insurance and buy-back & trade-in customers. In addition, Tech Data will work closely with Brightstar to service certain Brightstar customers in Europe, and both Brightstar and Tech Data remain committed to TDMobility, a 50/50 joint venture in the U.S.