Consolidated says fiber build will slow without private equity backing

Consolidated Communications filed a letter to shareholders, asking them to vote for the company’s proposed acquisition by Searchlight Capital Partners and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI). The letter, written by Consolidated’s board of directors, warned that if Consolidated remains a standalone company, it will be unable to fund its future fiber builds at “the pace necessary to remain competitive and continue to grow.” Specifically, Consolidated “will be forced to significantly slow the pace of [its] upgrade to roughly 45,000-75,000 passings per year,” compared to its average of more than 300,000 annual passings from 2021 to 2023. Searchlight and BCI first proposed to acquire the company in April 2023. In October, Consolidated announced it will move forward with the transaction, which is valued at $3.1 billion and includes assumption of the company’s debt.