The cable service provider WOW! has offered its Columbus and Cleveland markets to the Canadian company Atlantic Broadband.
WOW!, primarily based outdoors Denver, sold the two marketplaces for $1.125 billion. The deals are predicted to shut in the second fifty percent of the yr.
WOW!’s shoppers will grow to be Atlantic Broadband prospects.
“For WOW!’s consumers in the Cleveland and Columbus marketplaces, Atlantic Broadband is dedicated to delivering excellent services and to making sure a sleek transition,” WOW claimed in a information release asserting the offer.
“Right up until the close of the transaction, which is anticipated in the next 50 percent of the yr, consumers should see no alterations to their higher-speed details, cable or telephone solutions,” the information launch ongoing.
WOW! serves about 196,000 world wide web, 61,000 video clip and 35,000 telephone customers in the Columbus and Cleveland marketplaces, in accordance to Atlantic Broadband, a Massachusetts-centered subsidiary of Cogeco Communications of Montreal. The Columbus and Cleveland markets created $244 million in revenue for the year ending March 31.
“The acquisition of WOW’s Ohio broadband programs makes it possible for us to increase major scale to our increasing and worthwhile U.S. broadband business enterprise,” Philippe Jetté, president and CEO of Cogeco Communications, said in a news launch.
“The acquisition also represents a solid strategic match for Cogeco Communications as it is complementary to Atlantic Broadband’s current footprint and capitalizes on its present system.”
Atlantic Broadband serves 11 states which includes Pennsylvania and West Virginia. With this acquisition, it becomes the eighth-major cable operator in the U.S.
Atlantic Broadband has contracted with WOW! to services the Columbus and Cleveland marketplaces for the subsequent 12 to 18 months, the corporation claimed. Social media web pages this kind of as Fb and Reddit have been peppered with opinions about WOW!’s Columbus-region assistance this calendar year, with buyers complaining of spotty World-wide-web connections and poor repair responses.
Atlantic Broadband options to invest $82 million upgrading service in the Columbus and Cleveland parts, Jetté and Atlantic Broadband President Frank van der Post said in a Wednesday meeting contact talking about the purchase.
“We feel we can effectively compete listed here … with the investments we will be creating in the network, with increased speeds, much more dependability and (to) provide extra IPTV (Internet Protocol Tv) services,” van der Put up said.
WOW!’s departure provides a different improve to the Columbus world-wide-web and cable landscape, which has been largely shared amongst WOW!, Spectrum and AT&T. This summer time, the company Starry Web entered the sector, featuring large-velocity world-wide-web with no deal for $50 a month.
WOW! also sold markets in Chicago, Evansville, Indiana, and Anne Arundel, Maryland, to Astound Broadband for an extra $661 million. WOW! will use proceeds from the sale to cut down debt.
“The considerable proceeds from these transactions replicate the attractiveness of our belongings and the apparent opportunity to expand our place as a dependable provider of trustworthy, available and rapidly broadband remedies,” WOW! CEO Teresa Elder claimed in a information launch.
“The divestiture of these markets will empower us to reduce our debt as we keep on to execute our broadband-to start with system.”
jweiker@dispatch.com
@JimWeiker
