Stonepeak To Acquire Astound Broadband For $8.1B

Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, a private equity firm with a portfolio of infrastructure investments, on Sunday announced it is acquiring cable-TV company Astound Broadband in an $8.1 billion that includes the latter's debt.

The deal could close sometime in the second half of next year.

What Happened: Stonepeak has agreed to purchase Astound stakes from investors TPG Capital and Patriot Media Management at a $3.6 billion valuation.

Astound’s network services around one million customers, including, RCN Telecom Services LLC, Grande Communications Networks LLC Wave broadband, and enTouch Systems Inc.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the leveraged buyouts are gaining traction in the market since the third quarter of the year.

Why Does It Matter: Astound’s network services grew over time through reorganization and consolidations.

Earlier in February, Astound added 22,000 customers to its network after an acquisition deal with Houston-based enTouch. Astound is also seeking regulatory permission to acquire California-based internet service provider Digital West Inc.

In 2017, investor TPG Capital purchased RCN and Grande for an aggregate of $2.25 billion in consideration and Wave for $2.37 billion in 2018.

Photo by Peter Trieb on Wikimedia