Consolidated Communications has completed the sale of its Washington assets to investment firm Palisade Infrastructure. The transaction includes approximately 9,950 data connections and 8,500 lines, according to Consolidated.
The selling price was not disclosed.
Consolidated said that the holdings contributed about $20 million in revenue to its fiscal 2023 results and that the divesture aligns with the company’s “ongoing strategic asset review and focus on its fiber expansion plans in core broadband regions.”
Consolidated Communications itself is in the process of being sold to Searchlight Capital Partners and British Columbia Investment Management Corp. A bit more than a third (34.3%) of Consolidated already is owned by Searchlight.
Consolidated formed a committee to look at the offer and, last October, said it was set to go ahead with the $3.1 billion sale — despite the misgivings of Wildcat Capital Management, which own between 2% and 3% of the company. Wildcat said it thought that the price tag was too low.
In late January, Consolidated’s shareholders approved its sale. Regulatory approvals still are pending, and the deal is expected to close during the first quarter of next year.
Though the Washington assets are not deemed core to Consolidated, they are to Palisade Infrastructure, judging by another deal the company made recently.
In November 2023, the company completed the acquisition of 100% of the equity of Mashell Inc., which at the time was the parent company of Rainier Connect. The company, which was 110 years old, served Tacoma and other Washington communities.
The newly acquired company was renamed Lightcurve. Palisade said that upgrades and expansions were to be made in Pierce, King, Lewis, Snohomish and Thurston counties.
