Providence sniffing Wind

US-based private equity firm Providence is said to be considering acquiring a stake in Canadian cellco Globalive Wireless (Wind Mobile), Bloomberg reports, quoting sources with knowledge of the matter, who requested anonymity due to the information being private. Wind – which is Canada’s fourth largest mobile operator by customers yet has less than a 3% share of the market – is looking to attract a new owner or merger partner, as its main backer, Russian-controlled Vimpelcom, has drastically scaled back investment with a view to exiting the venture. Wind’s CEO Anthony Lacavera said last month the company needs to find an injection of up to CAD500 million (USD461 million) in investment to roll out a 4G LTE network in order to remain competitive.