Anchorage, Alaska-based telephone company General Communications Inc will buy three Alaska cable television companies for $280.7m. The planned acquisition of Prime Cable of Alaska, Alaska Cablevision Inc of Kirkland, Washington, and Alaskan Cable Network was made possible by the new federal Telecommunications Act of 1996. The three cable companies together serve about 101,000 households. Under terms of letters of intent with the cable companies, General Communications will issue 16.3m shares worth at $105.7m, to owners of the three cable companies, some 600 institutional investors. The rest of the purchase will come from $175m in financing from Nations Bank, the company said. MCI Communications Inc, which owns 30% of GCI, will provide additional capital by buying 2m shares at $6.50 a share. The expansion will also involve $150m to $200m in capital expenditures.
