RCN, Grande and Wave to combine to create sixth largest US cable operator
News

RCN, Grande and Wave to combine to create sixth largest US cable operator

Three US cable operators, RCN Telecom, Grande Communications and Wave Broadband, are to merge in a private equity-backed deal to create the sixth largest in the US.

TPG Capital agreed to buy RCN and Grande in August 2016. Now the private equity group has decided to buy Wave from another private equity group, Oak Hill Capital Partners, and merge the three.

David Trujillo, partner at TPG Capital, said: “High-quality, reliable communications infrastructure is increasingly important, and the acquisition of Wave is a transformative addition that will allow RCN to provide broadband-related services in new and growing markets.”

Wave is a regional broadband fibre company offering a full suite of high-speed data, video, and voice services to residential and business customers. The deal is expected to close in the second half of this year.

Steve Weed, founder and CEO of Wave, said: “Over the last several years we have accelerated our growth substantially by expanding from our heritage of residential broadband services into enterprise-grade fibre … Our new partners, TPG and RCN, recognise the value of what we have created. We are eager to enter our next era of growth alongside them.”

The combination of RCN and Grande created a regional provider of next-generation, high-speed data services for residential and business customers with a presence spanning the east coast of the US as well as Chicago and Texas. The combination with Wave will expand RCN’s footprint to the west coast.

“By expanding our footprint with Wave, we have created a market-leading broadband platform with national reach, broad capabilities and expertise, and exciting growth potential,” said Jim Holanda, CEO of RCN and Grande.



Gift this article