Canadian private equity firm BC Partners has joined forces with the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board and US cable industry veteran Jerry Kent to buy US-based Suddenlink Communications from Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Quadrangle and Oaktree Capital Management, Reuters reports. The deal, which is worth around USD2.50 billion, includes a USD1.99 billion equity investment, along with incremental debt of USD500 million. Including the assumption of existing debt, the deal puts Suddenlink’s enterprise value at USD6.6 billion.
Suddenlink offers cable TV, broadband and telephone services to more than 1.4 million residential and commercial customers in Texas, West Virginia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. It claims to be the seventh largest US cable operator with annual revenues of around USD2 billion. Kent, Suddenlink’s current chairman and CEO, said the deal will allow his team to continue investing in new technology and infrastructure.
The deal marks this week’s second takeover of a US cableco by Canadians; as reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate yesterday Cogeco Cable agreed to pay USD1.36 billion to buy Atlantic Broadband, in a move aimed at gaining a foothold in the larger US market.