June 19, 2018 — CINCINNATI & HONOLULU–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Cincinnati Bell (NYSE: CBB) announced today that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved Cincinnati Bell’s acquisition of Hawaiian Telcom Holdco, Inc. (NASDAQ: HCOM).
The FCC’s approval of the merger follows the unanimous approvals of the merger by the Hawai‘i Public Utilities Commission on April 30, 2018 and the Hawai‘i Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs’ Cable Television Division on December 8, 2017. The merger also cleared the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act review period and received overwhelming support from Hawaiian Telcom shareholders. The receipt of approval from the FCC was the final outstanding regulatory approval and, accordingly, the closing of the merger is now subject only to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
As previously announced, Cincinnati Bell and Hawaiian Telcom established an election deadline of 5:00 p.m., New York time, on June 21, 2018 (Election Deadline) for Hawaiian Telcom stockholders to elect the form of consideration they wish to receive, subject to proration, in connection with the merger. The Election Deadline remains unchanged. The companies expect to be able to close the merger on July 2, 2018.
Leigh Fox, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cincinnati Bell, said, “We are excited that this final regulatory approval has cleared the way for us to combine these two great businesses. Together, Cincinnati Bell and Hawaiian Telcom will be a stronger communications and technology company that will foster greater innovation as we build scale and fiber density across our footprint. This is a significant development for us and for our customers, bringing us one step closer to delivering more competitive products and services, including continuing to expand the Next Generation Fiber Network to customers across Hawai‘i.”
