AT&T was only bidder for Leap, upped price by 58% in negotiations

AT&T previously passed on an opportunity to strike a deal with no-contract wireless carrier Leap Wireless but was ultimately the only bidder for the company and wound up paying 58 percent more than it had initially offered, according to a securities filing.

According to Leap's preliminary proxy filing on the deal with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Cricket provider sought deals or merger agreements with a range of wireless partners during the past several years, likely including MetroPCS, Dish Network, T-Mobile US and parent Deutsche Telekom, and Sprint and new parent SoftBank. In the end, AT&T was the only company willing to make a definitive bid for Leap, after initially walking away from a possible arrangement that had been under discussion: In March 2012, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson called Leap CEO Doug Hutcheson and indicated that AT&T did not have any interest in a joint venture or MVNO arrangement with Leap, and in April 2012 Stephenson told Hutcheson AT&T wasn't interested in an acquisition either.