WOW! Internet, Cable & Phone has wrapped the sale of its Chicago; Evansville, Indiana; and Anne Arundel, Maryland service areas to Radiate, a holding company for Astound Broadband.
The $661 million deal puts those markets under the control of RCN Telecom Services, Grande Communications and WaveDivision, collectively Astound. As part of the deal, WOW! entered into a transition services agreement with Astound to support continuity of service during the transition period.
The finalized deal comes two months after WOW! completed another transaction to sell its Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio service areas to Atlantic Broadband for $1.125 billion. The company has been using parts of the proceeds from the deals to pay down its debt and cut its leverage ratio in half—down to 2.5x from 5.0x.
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"The completion of the Astound Broadband transaction is another important step in the execution of our broadband-first strategy," said WOW! CEO Teresa Elder in a statement. "We remain committed to providing customers with reliable, accessible and fast broadband solutions, and now we have an even greater ability to enhance our network and expand our footprint through greenfield and Edge-out opportunities."
WOW! is getting rid of some of its most significant Midwest markets through the agreement but it will still retain Detroit, Michigan along with several markets in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee.
As part of this transaction, WOW! said it anticipates some employees from each of the sold markets will remain with WOW!, some may be integrated into Atlantic Broadband and Astound Broadband, and others may leave the business all together.
WOW! ended the second quarter of 2021 with 857,400 total subscribers, an increase of 12,900 compared to June 30, 2020.