Telephone and Data Systems Inc

Telephone and Data Systems Inc. withdrew its all-stock acquisition proposal for the remaining minority shares of Array Digital Infrastructure on September 1, abandoning a deal that would have given outside Array shareholders 0.86 shares of TDS for each share held. TDS retains its controlling 82% equity stake in Array, leaving public shareholders with an 18% minority position, after a special committee formed by Array's board failed to reach consensus with TDS on exchange ratios and relative share valuation. Management said current market conditions favor immediate share repurchases over share-issuance transactions, allowing TDS to draw on $523.9 million in remaining board authorization as of June 30, which includes a $500 million expansion approved in November 2025. TDS and Array also plan to accelerate monetization of Array's residual wireless spectrum holdings, converting non-earning assets into non-dilutive capital to fund TDS Telecom's fiber footprint expansion. Hedge fund holders in TDS rose to 50 from 47 in the prior quarter, while short interest sits at an exceptionally low 0.06% of the float; management has not set fixed timelines or price targets for the spectrum sales or the buyback cadence.

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (TDS) announced it is no longer pursuing the acquisition of the public shares of Array Digital Infrastructure, Inc. that it does not already own, withdrawing its proposal to exchange each Array share for 0.86 of a TDS share. TDS will retain its approximately 82% ownership in Array, and both companies intend to increase efforts to monetize Array's remaining wireless spectrum assets. With the withdrawal, TDS expects to recommence repurchases under its share repurchase programs, including the additional $500 million authorization announced in November 2025, with approximately $523.9 million remaining available as of June 30, 2026. TDS President and CEO Walter Carlson cited the inability to agree on the form of consideration and value as the reason for the decision.

Telephone and Data Systems raised its full-year fiber address guidance to a range of 250,000 to 300,000 after adding roughly 66,000 marketable fiber service addresses in the second quarter, pushing first half 2026 delivery to about 106,000, the strongest opening half in company history. Total telecom operating revenue fell 6% in the quarter, or 4% excluding divestitures, and management trimmed its full-year telecom revenue guidance to a range of $1 billion to $1.025 billion. Residential fiber net adds reached 15,100 for the quarter, up 47% year-over-year, and fiber revenue climbed 13%, or $11 million. Array Digital Infrastructure, the tower subsidiary in which TDS has an unresolved buyout offer for minority shares, saw cash site rental revenue up 65% year-over-year on a normalized basis and closed a $168 million spectrum sale to T-Mobile in May and a $1 billion transaction with Verizon in June.

Telephone and Data Systems reported second-quarter net income attributable to TDS common shareholders of $281.06 million, swinging from a loss of $5.74 million a year earlier. Earnings per share were $2.42, compared with a loss of $0.05 in the prior-year quarter. Total operating revenues for the three months ended June 30, 2026, rose 4% to $309.28 million, while TDS Telecom revenues fell 6% to $248.41 million. Shares were down 2.25% to $35.19 in pre-market trading on the NYSE.