KIRKLAND — Wave Broadband has announced that the company has been sold to two private equity firms and members of Wave’s management team.
GI Partners, Oak Hill Capital Partners and Steve Weed, chief executive officer of WaveDivision Holdings, are acquiring the Kirkland-based company — which operates cable provider Wave Broadband and data provider Astound Broadband — for about $950 million, according to a report by Dow Jones Newswires.
Wave, formed in 2003 by Weed and Sandler Capital Management, provides video, high-speed data and voice services to residential and commercial customers in the markets in and around Seattle — including Clallam County — as well as Portland, Ore., San Francisco and Sacramento, Calif.
Earlier this year, Wave Broadband acquired Broadstripe cable, serving the Port Townsend area.
A statement from Wave said the company’s acquisition by the equity firms “is in essence simply a refinancing of Wave Broadband, with new investors buying the equity of our current investors.
“The result is we will continue to operate as we have since Wave began.”
Regulatory review
The deal will have no impact on Wave customers, the company said.
Reports in industry publications said the deal was expected to close later this year, pending regulatory approval.
According to CED magazine, a trade publication, “Wave Broadband was rumored to be on the block for most of this year as smaller cable operators have proved to be attractive to investment groups.
“On the flip side, the operators are now faced with increased programming costs, as well as the need to devote more capital to new features and services in order to compete with the satellite and telco video providers,” the magazine said.
