Ending an active quarter during which it raised $356.5 million through an IPO and another $225 million through the sale of its Chicago fiber network to Verizon, WideOpenWest reported losing another 16,000 pay-TV customers during the period amid rate increases.
WOW also lost 2,000 residential high-speed internet users, with overall revenue slipping 1.6% to $295.5 million.
Overall, the Englewood, Colorado-based cable operator was pleased with its work. It raised enough money through its IPO to pay off all its 10.25% senior unsecured notes, wiping $60 million of annualized interest payments from its books.
WOW also has $225 million in cash coming after selling its Chicago fiber network to Verizon—cash it will use to further pay off debt. “We were able to monetize our network at a much higher valuation, and we’ll still be able to sell SMB services on it based on a wholesale agreement with Verizon,” WOW CEO Steven Cochran said in a conference call with investment analysts today.
“The deal improved both our liquidity and our leverage and allows us to think of the rest of our business,” he added.
WOW can now focus on its strategy of expanding passings by growing the periphery of its various service areas.
Through the end of the second quarter, WOW had extended its network to 75,000 new homes passed following the implementation of a strategy started in 2016.