Two investment firms have offered to acquire all the outstanding common shares of Consolidated Communications for cash consideration of $4 per share in a buyout deal that would convert Consolidated from a publicly traded company to a private one.
The two firms are Searchlight Capital Partners, which already owns 34.3% of Consolidated, and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation.
It’s important to note that the offer is non-binding and is subject to approval of the holders of a majority of shares of common stock that Searchlight doesn’t already own.
In a press release, Consolidated cautioned that it only recently received the letter and has not had the opportunity to carefully review and evaluate it or make any decision about a response.
Proposed Consolidated Communications Buyout
According to the proposal letter, “any potential transaction must be subject to the approval and recommendation by a special committee of independent and disinterested directors, advised by independent legal and financial advisors.”
Consolidated said its board plans to establish a special committee comprised of independent directors of the board to review and consider the proposal.
Searchlight acquired its share of Consolidated through a $425 million investment, a portion of which was completed in 2020 and a portion of which was completed in 2021. When the initial proposal was announced, Consolidated said the money would be used toward fiber broadband deployments.
Other current Searchlight broadband provider investments include Uniti Group and Ziply. “Realized” investments include Electric Lightwave and GCI.
