Definitive Additional Materials

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

SCHEDULE 14A

(RULE 14a-101)

SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION

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LEAP WIRELESS INTERNATIONAL, INC.
(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)
(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if other than the Registrant)
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Leap Wireless International, Inc. (“Leap”) is filing the attached presentation materials in connection with Leap’s solicitation of proxies for proposals to be voted on at its 2011 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Leap may present the attached materials to stockholders and others on future occasions. The information contained in the attached presentation materials is summary information that is intended to be considered in the context of Leap’s filings with the SEC and other public announcements. Leap undertakes no duty or obligation to publicly update or revise this information, although it may do so from time to time.

In connection with the 2011 Annual Meeting, Leap mailed to stockholders its definitive proxy statement filed with the SEC on June 28, 2011 (the “Definitive Proxy Statement”). In addition, Leap files annual, quarterly and special reports, proxy and information statements and other information with the SEC. Stockholders are urged to read the Definitive Proxy Statement and other information because they contain important information about Leap and the proposals to be presented at the 2011 Annual Meeting. These documents are available free of charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or from Leap at www.leapwireless.com. The contents of the websites referenced herein are not deemed to be incorporated by reference into the Definitive Proxy Statement.

Leap and its directors, executive officers and certain employees may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from stockholders in connection with the election of directors and other proposals to be voted on at the 2011 Annual Meeting. Information regarding the interests, if any, of these directors, executive officers and specified employees is included in the Definitive Proxy Statement filed by Leap with the SEC.


LEAP WIRELESS INTERNATIONAL, INC.
Response to Institutional Shareholder Services Report
July 25, 2011


2
Presentation of Financial and Other Important Information
Presentation of Financial Information
Historical
financial
and
operating
data
in
this
presentation
reflect
the
consolidated
results
of
Leap
Wireless
International,
Inc.
(the
“Company”
or
“Leap”)
and
its
subsidiaries
and
consolidated
joint ventures for the periods indicated. The term “voice services”
refers to the Company’s Cricket Wireless, Muve Music™
and Cricket PAYGo™
service offerings, and the term “broadband
services”
refers
to
the
Company’s
Cricket
Broadband
service.
This
presentation
includes
financial
information
prepared
in
accordance
with
accounting
principles
generally
accepted
in
the
United States (“GAAP”), as well as other financial measures referred to as non-GAAP. The non-GAAP financial measures, which include Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), Cost Per Gross
Customer Addition (CPGA), Cash Cost Per User (CCU) and adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA), should be considered in addition to, but not as
substitutes for, the information prepared in accordance with GAAP. For definitions of these non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures, please
see
the
information
under
the
heading
“Financial
Reports
Non-GAAP
Financial
Measures”
in
the
Investor
Relations
section
of
Leap’s
corporate
website
(investor.leapwireless.com).
Proxy Solicitation
In connection with the solicitation of proxies, Leap filed with the SEC on June 28, 2011 a definitive proxy statement and has filed and will file other relevant documents concerning the
proposals to be presented at Leap’s 2011 Annual Stockholders’
Meeting (the “2011 Annual Meeting”).  Leap also mailed the definitive proxy statement to its stockholders. In addition, Leap
files annual, quarterly and special reports, proxy and information statements and other information with the SEC. Leap’s stockholders are urged to read the proxy statement and other
information because they contain important information about Leap and the proposals to be presented at the 2011 Annual Meeting. These documents are available for free at the SEC’s
website (www.sec.gov) or from Leap (www.leapwireless.com). The contents of the websites referenced herein are not deemed to be incorporated by reference into the proxy statement. 
Leap and its directors, executive officers and certain employees
may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies
from Leap’s stockholders in connection with the election of
directors and other matters to be proposed at Leap’s 2011 Annual Meeting. Information regarding the interests, if any, of these directors, executive officers and specified employees is
included in the definitive proxy statement filed by Leap with the SEC.
Forward-Looking Statements
This
presentation
contains
“forward-looking
statements”
within
the
meaning
of
the
Private
Securities
Litigation
Reform
Act
of
1995.
Such
statements
reflect
management’s
current
expectations based on currently available operating, financial and competitive information, but are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those anticipated in or implied by the forward-looking statements. Our forward-looking statements include our discussions about our expected, future financial performance,
including as a result of our current and future product and service plan offerings, future plans to transition to LTE and expected contributions from management and Leap’s proposed slate of
nominees to the board of directors and are generally identified with words such as “believe,”
“think”, “expect,”
“estimate,”
“intend,”
“seek,”
“anticipate,”
“continue,”
“plan,”
“will,”
“could,”
“should,”
“may”
and similar expressions. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could affect our forward-looking statements include, among other things:  our ability to attract and retain
customers in an extremely competitive marketplace; the duration and severity of the current economic downturn in the United States and changes in economic conditions, including interest
rates, consumer credit conditions, consumer debt levels, consumer confidence, unemployment rates, energy costs and other macro-economic factors that could adversely affect demand for
the services we provide; the impact of competitors’
initiatives; our ability to successfully implement product and service plan offerings, expand our retail distribution and execute effectively
on our other strategic activities; our ability to obtain and maintain roaming and wholesale services from other carriers at cost-effective rates; our ability to maintain effective internal control
over financial reporting; our ability to attract, integrate, motivate and retain an experienced workforce, including members of senior management; future customer usage of our wireless
services, which could exceed our expectations, and our ability to manage or increase network capacity to meet increasing customer demand; our ability to acquire additional spectrum in the
future at a reasonable cost or on a timely basis; our ability to
comply with the covenants in any credit agreement, indenture or
similar instrument governing any of our existing or future
indebtedness; our ability to effectively integrate, manage and operate our new joint venture in South Texas; failure of our network or information technology systems to perform according to
expectations and risks associated with the upgrade or transition
of certain of those systems, including our billing system; and other factors detailed in the section entitled “Risk Factors”
included in our periodic reports filed with the SEC, including our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2011, filed with the SEC on May 6, 2011.
All forward-looking statements included in this presentation should be considered in the context of these risks. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. In light of these risks and uncertainties, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this
presentation may not occur and actual results could differ materially from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. Investors and prospective investors are cautioned
not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements.


As investors review the analysis from Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), they should take into
account critical information that we believe ISS failed to consider in making its
recommendation,
including:
Pentwater’s
opportunistic,
short-term
history
of
trading
in
Leap
stock
and
its
track
record
of
disregarding
other
stockholders’
interests
MHR’s
long-term
focus,
track
record
of
producing
stockholder
value
The
lack
of
qualifications
of
the
director
nominees
proposed
by
Pentwater
and
the
risk
we
believe
is
posed
to
stockholder
value
if
these
nominees
are
elected
to
the
Leap
Board
Extensive telecommunications experience of Leap’s nominees
Leap’s
positive
financial
and
operating
performance
compared
to
its
relevant
peer
group
The
success
of
Leap’s
broadband
strategy
The
Leap
Board
recommends
that
you
vote
“FOR”
the
slate
of
qualified
Leap
nominees
on
the
WHITE
proxy
card
and
encourages
you
to
simply
discard
any
gold
proxy
card
sent
to
you
by
Pentwater
3
Leap believes ISS has failed to consider critical information
in making its recommendation


What ISS Failed to Consider:
Pentwater’s Interests Not Aligned with Stockholders
Pentwater’s track record reveals its opportunistic short-term focus
and in
Leap’s view Pentwater has no interest in providing value to other
stockholders.
In contrast, MHR is a private equity fund with a long-term focus
that has
provided tremendous value
to other stockholders.
-
Pentwater has sold and shorted
Leap stock since announcing the proxy
contest whereas MHR has never sold or shorted
Leap stock.
-
Net of its short position, Pentwaters holdings represent only ~1%
of
Leap’s shares, whereas MHR holds ~20%
of Leap’s shares.
-
Pentwater sold down its entire position
in Post Properties prior to placing
a director on the Post board.
-
Pentwater risked the interests of all other BPW Acquisition Corp. stock and
warrant holders by attempting to hold up
the merger of BPW and Talbots in
order to extract further value for itself.
-
Pentwater has no track record of producing value at public
companies
whereas Lorals stock price has increased ~340%
since
September 2008, all while three of Leap’s nominees served on the board.
“Pentwater’s interests aligned
with other stockholders”
and
“would give unaffiliated
shareholders a strong voice in
the boardroom.”
ISS says…
Reality
4
MHR supported Leap replacing ~30% of its vice presidents and other
members of senior management
last year in order to ensure that it had the
right management team in place to execute Leap’s current operational strategy.
MHR not “willing to hold
management and other board
members accountable”


What ISS Failed to Consider:
Halbower’s Lack of Experience and Long-Term Interest
“...Halbower is the most obvious
candidate”
and will be able to
“contribute immediately to board
deliberations and strategic
discussions.”
ISS says . . .
Reality
5
Halbower has no relevant telecommunications experience –
he has never
worked for, managed or sat on the board of a telecommunications
company.
Halbower has nothing new to propose.  We believe Pentwater’s “plan”
for Leap is
vague, misinformed and does not contain a single idea
that the Board hasn’t
either implemented or initiated with significantly more depth.
Halbower never asked to speak to the Leap Board or management team
to discuss Pentwater’s operational proposals
we believe this is because he
simply doesnt have anything new to propose.
In our view, Halbower’s firm (Pentwater) takes a short-term approach to investing
and
his
track
record
suggests
he
is
not
likely
to
have
a
vested
interest
in
giving stockholders a voice
in the boardroom:
In 2008, Pentwater ran a proxy contest at Post Properties, which
was
settled by allowing David R. Schwartz to stand for election to the board. 
Schwartz served on the Post board for only 14 months.
Even
before
Mr.
Schwartz
joined
Post’s
board,
Pentwater
had
already
sold
its
entire
position
in
Post
common
stock.
Between the time Pentwater announced its proxy contest and when
Schwartz resigned, Post’s share price dropped 57%.


What ISS Failed to Consider:
Poor Track Record of Pentwater’s Nominees
“The dissident…has explicitly
identified two nominees –
Switz
and Roscitt
with extensive,
relevant senior-level industry
experience.”
ISS says . . .
Reality
6
Switz
and Roscitt
are experienced in the telecom industry –
experienced in
presiding over the destruction of value
for stockholders in the telecom
industry.
While Roscitt
was Chairman and CEO of ADC Telecommunications, its stock price
plummeted
84%.
During
his
tenure
on
the
board
of
Net2Phone,
Net2Phone’s
stock
price
declined
60%,
and
during
his
time
on
Sequoia
Software’s
board,
Sequoia’s
stock
price
fell
44%.
Switz
has a similar track record.  ADC Telecommunications was sold for 16% less
per share
than the share price when Switz
became CEO seven years earlier
(after succeeding Roscitt).  During Switz’s
tenure on the board of Micron
Technology, Micron’s stock price has declined 54%,
and during his tenure on
the board of Hickory Tech Corporation, Hickory’s stock price declined 22%.


What ISS Failed to Consider:
Experience of Leap’s Directors and Nominees
ISS says . . .
Reality
7
“Other than the CEO, this
[telecom] experience [of the
incumbent directors] appears
to be largely their experience
as directors of Leap.
Moreover, with its two newest
nominees the board appears
to have continued its pattern
of nominating candidates
without any operating
experience in the industry.”
Simply not true
that Leap’s directors and nominees lack relevant experience.
Dr.
Rachesky
serves
as
Chairman
of
Loral
Space
&
Communications
(satellite
communications) and
Telesat Canada
(satellite communications for television and
telephone networks).
Mr.
Targoff
is
a
director
of
Loral
and
ViaSat
(satellite/digital
communications)
an
d was founder and principal
of a private investment company focused on early-
stage companies in telecommunications and related industries.
Mr. Harkey has been an executive of and investor in
companies in diverse
industries, including retail, hospitality and telecommunications and serves on
the Loral Board.
Mr. Leavitt (a Leap nominee) is a managing director and the current head of
global technology,
media and telecommunications
at an investment bank. 
Ms. Kruger (a Leap nominee) served as an executive vice president of Qwest
Communications
(residential and business telecom services) and Excel
Communications
(integrated voice and data communications products and
services).
Mr. Hutcheson, Leap’s president, CEO, a director and a member of Leap’s founding
management team served as vice president, marketing in the Wireless
Infrastructure Division at Qualcomm Incorporated
(mobile technologies). 


What ISS Failed to Consider:
Positive Performance Compared to Relevant Peers
ISS says…
Reality
8
MetroPCS is Leap’s “nearest”
and “most relevant”
peer and
compares Leap’s financial and
operational performance only
to MetroPCS in its report
There
is
only
a
5%
overlap
in
markets
between
Leap
and
MetroPCS.
There is a greater than 90% overlap in markets between Leap and Sprint,
Verizon,
T-Mobile
and
AT&T.
When Leap’s performance is viewed within the broader prepaid wireless section,
Leap compares favorably
as demonstrated by 1Q11 results:
Leap’s penetration rate (6%)
within the prepaid segment as a percentage
of covered POPs was
higher than T-Mobile (3%) and Sprint (5%)
and
just behind Tracfone (7%).
Leap’s average revenue per user
(ARPU) of $39.35 increased near the
highest in the prepaid segment, ahead of Sprint, T-Mobile and
Tracfone.
Leap’s churn
(3.1%) was among the lowest in the prepaid segment,
again
ahead
of
Sprint,
T-Mobile
and
Tracfone.


ISS says…
Reality
9
“…Leap’s cost structure is
excessive relative to PCS”
Leap operates in 65 markets whereas MetroPCS operates in only 13
Leap’s markets have significantly less population density
than MetroPCS,
although the size of Leap’s operating markets (on a covered POPs basis) has
continued to grow
with each wave of markets launched since 2000
Despite the difference in population density, Leap has been able to deliver
comparable sales, general and administrative costs to MetroPCS
when
compared on an apples-to-apples basis –
only a 6% average difference in SG&A
per covered POP over the last four quarters
Leap’s “foray”
into broadband
“diverted and wasted
considerable corporate
resources”
and endorses that
“PCS, by contrast, eschewed
a broadband strategy”
ISS fails to understand that
Leap’s 3G strategy has been a strong success
-
Broadband service has contributed over $72 million of adjusted OIBDA
over the last four quarters
-
Established a solid foundation
for Leap’s current smartphone offerings
Carriers who skipped the initial broadband investment are now forced, due to
slow
LTE
adoption,
to
spend
substantial
additional
capital
to
upgrade
their
2G
networks
and
improve
the
significantly
limited
customer
experience
for
3G smartphones on their networks
-
Other carriers likely to lose subscribers
frustrated with poor performance
of their 3G smartphone devices on 2G networks
What ISS Failed to Consider:
Comparable SG&A and 3G Success


APPENDIX


% of Coverage Overlap with Leap (Based on Square Miles)
Leap Has Minimal Coverage Overlap with MetroPCS vs.
Other Wireless Peers
11
Source: CoverageRight from American Roamer Database


13
65
Leap
MetroPCS
Leap Operates in More Markets with Less Population
Density than MetroPCS
Covered POPs (MM)
(2)
:
95
99
Total Markets
(1)
Based
upon
information
in
MetroPCS’s
annual
report
on
Form
10-K
for
the
year
ended
December
31,
2010;
MetroPCS
markets
include
Los
Angeles,
New
York
City,
San
Francisco,
Dallas,
South
Florida,
Detroit,
Boston/Hartford,
Philadelphia,
Atlanta,
North
Florida,
Sacramento,
Central
Florida
and
Las
Vegas
(2)
Covered
POPs
calculated
based
on
95.3M
POPs
for
Leap
and
98.7M
POPs
for
MetroPCS
7.6
1.5
Leap
MetroPCS
741
874
Leap
MetroPCS
Average Covered POPs
Per Market (MM)
Average Density Per Market
(Covered POPs / Square Mile)
(1)
12


Leap SG&A Comparable to MetroPCS
13
Leap SG&A comparable to Metro SG&A on apples-to-apples comparison
Metro reports SG&A in aggregate (1Q11: $169.8M); identifies selling cost component (1Q11: $91.9M) in CPGA
reconciliation
Leap separately reports G&A (1Q11: $95.4M) and selling cost (1Q11: $109.8M)
Leap,
however,
includes
Customer
Care
and
Billing
expense
(1Q11:
$33.7M)
in
reported
G&A;
Metro
does
not
include
in
reported G&A –
but instead includes in Cost of Service 
Bar
charts
above
eliminate
$33.7M
of
Leap
1Q11
Customer
Care
and
Billing
expense
from
Leap
G&A
to
align
with
Metro
SG&A reporting methodology
Leap sells greater percentage of handsets in Company-owned stores. Leap Selling Cost reflects expenses
related to larger number of retail stores and retail store employees
Source:  Leap’s and MetroPCS’s quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and related earnings releases for the quarter
ended March 31, 2011.  Covered POPs calculations based on 95.3M POPs for Leap and 98.7M POPs for MetroPCS


SG&A Per Covered POP 1Q09 –
1Q11
14
Leap currently operates in 65 markets and MetroPCS operates in 13
Relative quarterly spending varies depending on companies’
respective market launch activities and
promotional efforts
Increased sales and marketing expense for Leap in 1Q09 due to market launch activities in Philadelphia and Chicago
Increased promotional efforts for Leap in 3Q09 in response to competitive Boost Mobile activity
Despite significant difference in number of markets, only a 6% average difference in SG&A per covered
POP over last four quarters
Source:
Leap’s
and
MetroPCS’
annual
reports
on
Form
10-K,
quarterly
reports
on
Form
10-Q
and/or
earnings
releases
for
the
periods
presented.