Shenandoah Telecommunications Company (Shentel) announced the completion of its acquisition of Horizon Telcom (Horizon). This announcement follows Shentel's completion of the sale of the Tower Portfolio to Vertical Bridge for USD 309.9 million, as reported by TelecomTalk. Horizon is a commercial fiber provider in Ohio and adjacent states serving national wireless providers, carriers, enterprises, and government, education, and healthcare customers.
Also Read: Shentel Completes Sale of Tower Portfolio to Vertical Bridge
Horizon Telcom's Profile
Shentel says Horizon's fiber network is the largest and most dense network across its footprint, and the combined company will have approximately 15,400 fiber route miles across seven adjacent states. This includes the addition of approximately 5,500 fiber route miles from Horizon, the company said. Shentel plans to re-brand the Horizon commercial and residential fiber businesses to Glo Fiber.
Network Expansion Plans
"We are excited to expand into Ohio and Indiana, roughly doubling the size of our commercial fiber business, adding new Glo Fiber greenfield fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) expansion markets, and now reaching approximately 250,000 total combined company fiber passings. With our expansion into Ohio, we expect to pass approximately 600,000 total homes and businesses with Glo Fiber by the end of 2026," said Shentel.
"We believe combining Horizon's leading commercial fiber business with our rapidly growing residential Glo Fiber business will translate to a stronger combined business."
Also Read: Shentel Announces Sale of Tower Portfolio to Vertical Bridge for USD 310.3 Million
Financing the Acquisition
Shentel funded the cash portion of the acquisition with a combination of existing cash resources, proceeds from the sale of the tower portfolio, and by the issuance of 7 percent Participating Exchangeable Perpetual Preferred Stock of a Shentel subsidiary to an affiliate of Energy Capital Partners.
The company issued approximately 4.1 million shares of Shentel common stock to an investment fund managed by affiliates of GCM Grosvenor, a selling unit holder of Horizon.
