Metronet and its majority shareholders — the Cinelli family and Oak Hill Capital and its affiliates — have entered into an agreement for the fiber broadband provider to be acquired by a KKR and T-Mobile joint venture.
When the Metronet deal closes, Metronet will become a wholesale services provider for its retail customers. Its residential and fiber retail operations will transition to T-Mobile.
The plan, going forward, will be for T-Mobile to handle customer acquisition and support and Metronet will focus on build plans, network engineering, design, network deployment and customer installation.
Oak Hill and the Cinelli family will be minority investors in the joint venture.
“Over the past 10 years, Metronet has expanded its network from 10 small towns in Indiana to over 300 communities across a 17-state footprint, and from 80,000 locations passed to more than 2 million, all while maintaining an unwavering commitment to providing an outstanding experience for its loyal customers and dedicated associates,” said Benjy Diesbach, Senior Operating Advisor, and Scott Baker, Managing Partner of Oak Hill, in a joint statement about the Metronet deal.
Metronet serves major markets including Colorado Springs, Colorado; Des Moines, Iowa; Indianapolis, Indiana; Lexington, Kentucky; Norfolk, Virginia; and Tallahassee, Florida. In all, it serves more than 300 communities.
The Metronet deal is expected to close next year. The joint press release did not include the value of the deal or any other details.
Just last month, Metronet announced that it was investing $30 million to deploy a network in Plymouth, Minnesota. Construction is expected to begin this summer on the network, which will provide symmetrical 5 Gbps service to residences and 10 Gbps service to businesses. The first customers are expected to be served in the autumn.
Earlier this year, Metronet said it was welcoming subscribers to its network in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The new service will deliver symmetrical service at 2 Gbps for residences and 10 Gbps for businesses.
