Canadian private equity firm Novacap today completed its previously announced acquisition of Horizon Telecom for $220 million. The Novacap Horizon acquisition provides Novacap more than 4,300 fiber route miles and nearly 550,000 fiber strand miles with over 1,600 on-net locations and 16,600 near-net buildings. It also continues the trend of foreign investment firms acquiring U.S. fiber assets.
We reported earlier this year that Antin Infrastructure Partners, a European-based investment firm, had entered into a definitive agreement under which it will acquire FirstLight, a fiber-optic bandwidth infrastructure services provider operating in the Northeast U.S., from Oak Hill Capital Partners IV, for an undisclosed sum.
Last year, European investment firm EQT Fiber acquired multiple U.S. fiber assets, including Spirit Communications and Lumos Networks.
Novacap Horizon Acquisition
“The acquisition of Horizon represents an ideal investment for Novacap to take advantage of the secular growth trends in the fiber industry,” commented Ted Mocarski, Novacap senior partner, in a prepared statement. “Horizon is at a crucial moment in its history, where it is quickly transitioning from a traditional telephone company to Ohio’s leading provider of fiber-based services. We look forward to supporting and guiding Horizon through this exciting part of its history.”
“We are excited to take advantage of Novacap’s experience as a successful investor in regional fiber-optic providers such as Oxford Networks, FirstLight Fiber and Fibrenoire,” said Bill McKell, Horizon president and CEO, in a prepared statement. “We are grateful to have a partner who can provide the resources necessary to achieve our vision to be the premier provider of broadband services throughout Ohio and surrounding states. Novacap is already encouraging us to look more aggressively at growth opportunities, which includes expanding our network in Columbus and other metropolitan markets in order to enhance our enterprise offering.”
