Montreal-based Cogeco Communications announced today that it has closed on the $1.4 billion purchase of the remaining MetroCast assets in New Hampshire, Maine, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.
The purchase was made through Cogeco’s U.S. subsidiary, Atlantic Broadband. The deal makes Atlantic the ninth largest U.S. cable operator, with more than 450,000 customers and 850,000 residential passings spanning from Maine to Florida. Atlantic Broadband employs more than 1,250 workers and has over $710 million in combined annual revenue.
RELATED: Atlantic Broadband buys the rest of MetroCast for $1.4B
“After our highly successful acquisition and integration of the MetroCast Connecticut system more than two years ago, we understand the significant residential and business growth potential in this business,” said Richard Shea, Atlantic Broadband president and CEO, in a statement “A core strength of MetroCast has been its excellent operational and service team. We are pleased to welcome all MetroCast operating employees, including the local General Managers, to the Atlantic Broadband family. We look forward to working together to launch new and improved TV, Internet and Phone services to residential and business customers in these markets.”
Speaking to FierceCable shortly after the second MetroCast acquisition was announced in July, Atlantic Broadband President and Chief Revenue Officer David Isenberg noted the ease of integrating the remaining MetroCast assets. Not only did Cogeco’s 2015 purchase of MetroCast’s Connecticut systems provide a useful experience base, Isenberg said, but Atlantic and MetroCast’s back-office operations matched particularly well.
“We both use CSG International’s billing platform, for example, and we both use Cisco’s DOCSIS platform,” he said. “We have the same telephony vendor and the same VOD structure.”
The MetroCast deal, Isenberg explained, offers parent Cogeco a means of growth. One quarter of the Montreal-based operator’s footprint has access to fiber-to-the-home, while another 25% has access to fiber-to-the-node (FTTN) services. Amid the competitive landscape, Cogeco has been growing annual revenue at only around 3%.
Atlantic Broadband has been growing revenue at about a 6% clip, Isenberg said.
“About 70% of our footprint is still DSL,” he said. “For MetroCast, about 90% of their footprint is DSL services.”