News
TPG-owned RCN Telecom acquires Wave Broadband to create country’s sixth-largest player.
U.S. cable provider RCN Telecom late on Monday agreed a $2.37 billion (€2.11 billion) acquisition of Wave Broadband.
RCN is owned by private equity firm TPG Capital and offers triple-play services in major cities on the East Coast, and Chicago, while Wave focuses on the West Coast. The two companies will combine with another TPG-owned cableco called Grande Communications, which operates in Texas, to create the country’s sixth-largest player, with a presence in seven of the top 10 U.S. cities.
"This acquisition expands the breadth and depth of RCN’s fibre-rich network to 17,000 miles serving 2.7 million homes passed with over 925,000 residential and business customers delivering close to 1.7 million data, voice and video services," said Jim Holanda, CEO of RCN and Grande.
Wave will continue to operate under its own brand, continuing to focus on its residential base and also ramping up the expansion of its enterprise business.
"Over the last several years we have accelerated our growth substantially by expanding from our heritage of residential broadband services into enterprise-grade fibre," said Wave CEO and founder Steve Weed. "We are excited that our new partners in TPG and RCN recognise the value of what we have created, and share our passion for creating happy customers – we are eager to enter our next era of growth alongside them."
Weed will join the RCN board when the deal closes, which is expected to happen – subject to regulatory approval – during the second half of 2017.
