A fund managed by Macquarie Asset Management has agreed to buy into SwyftFiber, a service provider active in Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi. Readers may know SwyftFiber better as CableSouth.
The structured equity investment is subject to regulatory approvals. The name of the fund making the investment, the size of the investment or the stake were not disclosed, nor was the anticipated closing date.
“I’m very proud to announce this new partnership with Macquarie Asset Management,” SwyftFiber Co-Founder and CEO Jason Hunt said in a press release. “MAM has a highly respected track record in bringing fiber connectivity to underserved geographies and is aligned with our mission of providing high speed internet to communities that have historically lacked investment in high quality connectivity.”
Founded in 2008, CableSouth Media III (d.b.a SwyftFiber and SwyftConnect) provides internet, interconnected VoIP, and cable and streaming video services to parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas.
The goal of SwyftFiber going forward is to broaden broadband availability in underserved or unserved communities. SwyftFiber already is doing so through funding received in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction, and in through initiatives such as Louisiana’s GUMBO grant program, which is funded through $176.7 million awarded to the state through the Capital Projects Fund.
This is far from Macquarie’s first investment in the telecommunications sector.
In September 2021, Macquarie Infrastructure Partners VI, a fund managed by Macquarie Asset Management, completed the acquisition of Cincinnati Bell for $2.9 billion.
Two years earlier – in September 2019 — Macquarie Infrastructure Partners acquired Bluebird Network. Bluebird Network said at the time that it would gain a 2,500 fiber route mile extension to its Illinois network. The expansion was to include Rockford, Peoria, Bloomington, Normal and the Quad Cities, with more planned for later. The underground data center in Springfield MO also was to be expanded.
