SoftBank sells Miami’s Brightstar to private equity firm

Multinational tech conglomerate SoftBank is selling Miami-based wireless group Brightstar to a private equity firm.

The firm, Brightstar Capital Partners, founded by former Brightstar executive Andrew Weinberg and based in New York, announced the transaction in a joint release Friday. Terms of the deal were not published; it is is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021. SoftBank will retain a minority stake in Brightstar.

Brightstar was founded in 1997 by Marcelo Claure, currently SoftBank’s chief operating officer. In 2013, SoftBank announced it had taken a majority stake worth $1.26 billion in Claure’s firm. Claure was named SoftBank COO in 2018.

“Since I founded Brightstar over 20 years ago, the Company has grown tremendously and become a leader of end-to-end device lifecycle solutions,” Claure said in the statement. “I am incredibly proud of what Brightstar has accomplished over the years and am excited for an even brighter future. SoftBank looks forward to partnering with BCP as Brightstar enters into its next phase of growth.”

SoftBank has been looking to dump assets in a move to cut losses while raising cash to fund share buybacks and debt redemptions, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. In 2018, Reuters reported Brightstar was expected to generate just $150 million in annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, and that SoftBank was exploring a sale.

“Our partnership with BCP provides us with additional resources and relationships to foster our continued growth and capitalize on the vast market opportunities in mobility and handset protection,” said current Brightstar CEO Rod Millar.