Lightpath said Wednesday that it will expand its fiber network in western Connecticut with a 70-mile build that will connect two locations in the state -- Trumbull and Norwalk -- with Katonah, New York.

Lightpath provides fiber-based high-speed connections and services to businesses. Connecticut is home to 14 Fortune 500 companies participating in industries like advanced manufacturing, aerospace, bioscience, insurtech and medtech, according to Lightpath.

“Lightpath’s all-fiber fiber network offers organizations across all industries access to robust connectivity with the highest levels of flexibility, reliability and security,” Lightpath SVP of sales Doug Turtz said in a press release. “Lightpath continues to invest in Connecticut, as well as the greater New York City Metropolitan Area, as we have for over 30 years now. We are committed to enhancing our network and services for our existing customers, as well as continuing to bring Lightpath to new customers in more places.”

Lightpath is majority owned by Altice USA, which sold a 49.99% interest in the company to Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners in 2020 in a deal valued at $3.2 billion. According to Lightpath, the Connecticut expansion is part of an aggressive growth strategy and that over the past year it has:

●    Reached a milestone of 20,000+ route miles and 13,500+ service locations

●    Completed a 300-mile expansion from New York metro to Ashburn, VA

●    Finished a 54-mile network extension throughout Princeton, New Jersey

●    Built a 100-mile of state-of-the-art network across Queens, New York

The company also recently opened new offices in Midtown Manhattan and Boston. ■  

Shares in WideOpenWest were up as much as 17% in early trading Monday after reports surfaced that the company was in talks with Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners to be acquired.

WOW stock was priced as high as $21.69 per share (up 17% or $3.20 each) in early trading May 13. The stock was trading at $20.85 each before mid-day, up 13% or $2.36 each. This is the second time in about a month that WOW shares have risen in the double-digits — in April, the stock rose 12% after speculation arose that it had hired advisers to seek a possible buyer. 

According to Bloomberg News, citing unnamed sources, WOW and Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, the private-equity infrastructure investment arm of the investment banker, have entered into exclusive talks. The Morgan Stanley unit is not a total stranger to the U.S. telecom business — in 2020 it purchased a 49.99% interest in Altice USA’s Lightpath fiber enterprise business in a deal with an implied enterprise value of about $3.2 billion. 

Officials at WOW declined comment. Representatives from Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  

WOW is coming off the sale of five of its markets for a combined $1.786 billion to Astound Broadband and Breezeline (formerly Atlantic Broadband) and recently unveiled plans to beef up fiber network deployment and launch a wireless offering. Earlier this month the company said it would spend about $400 million on greenfield expansion of its fiber network through 2027.

On a conference call with analysts to discuss its Q1 results on May 9, WOW said it would launch its mobile service — via a partnership with Reach Mobile — in one of its southern markets later this month, followed by an enterprise-wide launch in Q3. ■

More than a month after finalizing a deal to sell a 49.99% interest in the company, Lightpath has named former Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners executive Chris Morley as its new CEO. 

Morley has more than 20 years experience in the telecom industry, most recently serving as  senior operating advisor for Stonepeak. Prior to that he spent nearly a decade at Zayo Group, serving in  various roles, including chief operating officer, where he led its fiber infrastructure, data center, enterprise networks, and transport service business segments.

 Morley will be joined on the Lightpath leadership team by Doug Dalissandro, formerly the chief revenue officer for Lightower Fiber Networks, and David Mayer, formerly the general counsel and executive vice president of business development for Lightower. Dalissandro will become Lightpath’s chief revenue officer while Mayer will be chief strategy officer for the company. 

“Lightpath has a rich and successful history of providing advanced communications services in the greater New York metropolitan area, and I’m excited to partner with Altice USA and MSIP to invest in and grow the business,” Morley said in a press release. “Leveraging our shared experiences from Lightpath, Lightower and Zayo, coupled with the extensiveness of the company’s fiber infrastructure network create a unique and relevant platform to the benefit and enablement of our customers.”

Lightpath completed the sale of a 49.99% stake in the company to Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners in December, in a deal with an implied enterprise value of $3.2 billion.  The telecom company is controlled by Altice USA, which holds a 50.1% interest in Lightpath. 

Before selecting Morgan Stanley as its partner, Altice USA had been in talks with Stonepeak to buy the Lightpath stake, but those talks broke down. Stonepeak later purchased Astound Broadband, which includes RCN, Grande Communications and Wave Broadband, from TPG for $8.1 billion. 

“Chris is a talented leader within the commercial communications industry with a proven track record of delivering exceptional value and results, and both Altice USA and MSIP are pleased to have him onboard to lead Lightpath as we embark on this new partnership,” Altice USA CEO Dexter Goei said in a press release. “I am confident that Chris, along with Doug and David, have the experience needed to help Lightpath realize its full potential as one of the leading enterprise and wholesale connectivity providers in the nation.”

Altice USA said it has completed the sale of a 49.99% interest in its Lightpath fiber enterprise business to Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, in a deal with an implied enterprise value of $3.2 billion. Altice USA will retain a 50.01% interest in Lightpath and maintain control of the company.

Altice USA first announced the Morgan Stanley deal in July. It had been looking for a buyer for the Lightpath division for more than a year. 

“We are pleased to have closed this transaction and partner with Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners to support ongoing and new growth initiatives, improve operational performance and provide strategic and financial flexibility for Lightpath,” Altice USA CEO Dexter Goei said in a press release. “This partnership enables us to focus on distinct opportunities for value creation and long-term growth for Lightpath while continuing to provide best-in-class products and services to enterprise customers.”

When it first announced the deal, Altice USA said it represented a 14.6 times multiple to its 2019 adjusted EBITDA, and that it would receive total gross cash proceeds of $2.3 billion from the sale and related financing activity (about $1.1 billion after tax and initial debt repayment). 

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC acted as financial advisor to Altice USA. Shearman & Sterling LLP, Mayer Brown LLP and Ropes & Gray LLP served as legal advisors to Altice USA. Evercore acted as financial advisor and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP served as legal advisor to Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners.

While Altice USA CEO Dexter Goei is still holding out hope that its latest offer to buy Canadian cable operator Cogeco will be accepted, he is cognizant that right now, the odds don’t look so good.

Altice USA made its first offer for Cogeco on Sept. 2, a $7.8 billion joint offer with Canadian telecom giant Rogers Communications. Altice would buy Cogeco’s U.S. operations -- Atlantic Broadband -- for $3.6 billion, while Rogers would snap up its Canadian businesses for $4.2 billion. That offer was quickly rejected by Gestion Audem, the holding company for Cogeco’s founding Audet family’s controlling interest in the company. In rejecting that offer, Cogeco executive chairman Louis Audet, also the controlling member of Gestion Audem, said the family had no intention of selling its interest, adding that its stance was “not a negotiating tactic.” 

That didn’t stop Altice from sweetening its offer by about $600 million to $8.4 billion -- $3.9 million for Atlantic Broadband -- on Oct. 18,   adding that the company had until Nov. 18 to accept the bid. Gestion Audem wasted little time to reject the new offer, adding that same day that “Since this is apparently not registering with Rogers and Altice, we repeat today that this is not a negotiating strategy, but a definitive refusal.”

Goei, during a conference call with analysts to discuss Q3 results on Thursday, admitted that it looks like a Cogeco deal won’t materialize, but he wasn’t folding all of his cards just yet.

“We’re very cognizant that the controlling shareholder needs to be acquiesced,” Goei said on the conference call. “Based on his rhetoric and his statements to date, I think it's fair to say that there is a low chance of us collectively with Rogers being able to move forward on this project. Formally we’ve got until Nov. 18, so we’ll see if anything shakes out.”

Although it seems unlikely that Atlantic Broadband will be joining the Altice fold anytime soon, Goei said he was encouraged by the M&A opportunities that exist in the U.S. market, particularly with smaller operators. He pointed to Altice’s July purchase of Service Electric Cable TV of New Jersey, which he said has grown since the purchase with little extra effort.

“We are out there looking at a handful of things,” Goei said, adding that given Altice USA’s 21-state footprint, there are several opportunities to find small systems contiguous to its operating area. 

“It’s not necessarily that easy to unlock all of this, but given the environment, given the interest rate environment, given that size does really matter here in terms of getting operational synergies and investing heavily in technology and customer service, it is starting to percolate that some of the smaller operators, the Mom and Pop guys, are looking to deal,” Goei said.

He pointed to Service Electric, which needed some investment in its network and didn’t have a consistent marketing strategy when Altice first bought it, and has responded well with minimal effort. 

“We’re seeing a lot of low hanging fruit just by adding two or three additional sales people both on the SMB side and the B2B side that’s been very lucrative for us just increasing penetration out there, bringing new products and we’re upgrading the network as quickly as we can,” Goei said. “Everything that we are able to get our hands on in terms of M&A opportunities will be the best use of our capital.”

Altice USA expects about $1.1 billion in proceeds from its sale of a 49% interest in its Lightpath division to Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners. While that money could be used to help finance system purchases, Goei added that if no M&A opportunities are found, the next best use for that cash could be share repurchases.

Altice USA said Tuesday it has reached an agreement to sell a 49.99% interest in its Lightpath business telecom unit to Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners in a deal with an implied enterprise value of $3.2 billion. 

Altice USA has been shopping the Lightpath unit for more than a year. The fiber-based enterprise business services company offers telecom services to medium and large-sized businesses in the New York metropolitan area. Lightpath customers include health care, financial, education, legal and professional services companies, as well as the public sector and communication providers and local exchange carriers. 

Altice USA was in talks last July to sell a minority stake in Lightpath to New York private equity firm Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, but those negotiations broke down.  It is unclear when Morgan Stanley stepped in, but Altice USA said it expects the deal to close in the fourth quarter.

Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners was founded in 2006 and has made 30 investments across three global funds with more than $13 billion of capital commitments. Its investors include some of the largest pension, sovereign wealth and insurance companies in the world.

Altice USA said the sale represents a 14.6 times multiple to its 2019 adjusted earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). As part of the deal, Altice USA will receive total gross cash proceeds of $2.3 billion from the sale and related financing activity (about $1.1 billion after tax and initial debt repayment). Altice USA also will retain a 50.01% interest in Lightpath and maintain control of the company.

Altice USA said that as a strategic investor, MSIP will help support ongoing and new growth initiatives at Lightpath, improve the unit’s operational performance and provide strategic and financial flexibility.

“Lightpath is an expansive and best-in-class enterprise fiber communications business with tremendous long-term potential,” Altice USA CEO Dexter Goei said in a press release. “Bringing in a strategic investor allows Altice USA to focus on operating our core businesses while infusing the capital needed to grow Lightpath and maximize shareholder value. We are pleased to partner with MSIP, a leading investor in telecommunications infrastructure with deep operational and management expertise, to propel Lightpath and unlock its future potential.”

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC acted as financial advisor to Altice USA. Shearman & Sterling LLP, Mayer Brown LLP and Ropes & Gray LLP served as legal advisors to Altice USA. Evercore acted as financial advisor and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP served as legal advisor to Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners.

Altice USA said its new mobile service has completed its employee testing and is ready for a commercial launch “this summer.”

Reporting 3.7% second-quarter revenue growth to $2.45 billion, the Bethpage, N.Y. cable operator highlighted the imminent launch of its new mobile service, and explained to investment analysts just how it will function now that its major MVNO partner, Sprint, has been purchased by T-Mobile.

Pending regulatory conditions and commitments, Altice USA’s MVNO deal with Sprint will be “expanded” into a seven-year wholesale agreement to utilize T-Mobile’s wireless network, including T-Mobile’s emerging 5G infrastructure.

Related: Report: Altice USA Close to Selling Lightpath Stake

The MVNO deal extends through the life of the seven-year consent degree, laid out in T-Mobile’s agreement with regulators to buy Sprint for $26 billion. According to Altice USA CEO Dexter Goei, the merger effectively extends Altice Mobile's MVNO deal three more years beyond the expiration of its legacy Sprint MVNO agreement.

That, according to Goei, gives Altice “three more years” to think about a future in which it moves beyond MVNO arrangements, building out its own wireless infrastructure.

“And the expansion organically or inorganically, will allow us to market to more geographies,” he noted.

Goei said Altice USA is pleased with how its MVNO situation shook out amid the processes with the FCC and U.S. Justice Department. He cautioned that arrangements could change at the state attorney generals level. 

Beyond the T-Mobile MVNO deal, Altice Mobile will leverage the cable operator’s upgraded public WiFi network, its fiber assets and the shared small-cell infrastructure it had been building out under its agreement with Sprint.

Separately, Altice USA announced a new complementary nationwide roaming agreement with AT&T, which it said will give its new mobile platform 99% nationwide coverage.

Goei gave no details on Altice Mobile pricing. Is the $25-a-month price reported for the employee test, the price we can expect to see when the service rolls out? “You’ll see when we launch," he said.

Meanwhile, Altice USA lost 21,000 video customers in the second quarter, vs. 24,000 in Q2 2018, marking what the company said was the sixth straight quarter in which it has reported year-over-year churn improvements.

The cable operator attributed this improvement to its Altice One CPE platform.

“And we have somewhat of a unique footprint,” Goei added, noting that the New York area has a “high video bundle market.”

Altice USA added 13,000 high-speed broadband users in Q2, an improvement over the 10,000 added in Q2 2018. Goei said that with the upgrade of the company’s Suddenlink footprint to DOCSIS 3.1, all of Altice USA’s footprint can now offer 1-gig speeds.

In the Optimum region, where Altice is rolling out fiber, the company expects to start delivering 10-gig symmetrical speeds in early 2020.

Hand in hand with the network investments have come improved financials for business services, which saw a 6.1% revenue increase in Q2.

Other financial data: Altice USA’s net income for the quarter was $86 million vs. a $98 million loss a year ago; adjusted EBITDA grew 7.3% to $1.08 billion.

Also, Altice USA is reportedly close to selling a minority stake in its commercial telecom unit Lightpath to Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, a New York private equity firm.

“This is an opportunistic situation for us,” Goei said. “It’s not a must-do.”

Altice USA is close to selling a minority stake in its commercial telecom unit Lightpath to Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, a New York private equity firm, according to Bloomberg News.

Altice USA began exploring the possibility of selling an interest in Lightpath back in May. According to Bloomberg, Altice USA would sell a minority stake to Stonepeak, valuing the company at about $3 billion in a deal that could be announced as soon as this week.

Altice USA did not immediately return a request for comment.

Related: High Fiber 

In May, during its Q1 earnings conference call with analysts, Altice USA CEO Dexter Goei confirmed that the company was exploring strategic options for Lightpath, adding that at the time it was still early in the process but that the company may have more to say in the second or third quarter. He added that any proceeds from an asset sale would go toward debt reduction or share repurchases. 

Altice USA is scheduled to release its Q2 results on July 31. 

Lightpath, a unit of Cablevision Systems focused on Ethernet-based business services, said it has established direct international access to its New York metro area fiber network.

Through a connection to New Jersey Fiber Exchange’s neutral cable landing station meet-me room in Wall, N.J.,  Lightpath’s enterprise customers can now tap into high bandwidth services for connectivity to key international destinations, the company said.

The New Jersey Fiber Exchange 64,800-square-foot facility is set to go live in September 2016, at which time Lightpath’s services will be available via the new connection.

As its customers increasingly seek the fast connectivity to key international hotspots, Lightpath said the new connection meets this need by bypassing carrier hotels and legacy backhaul solutions.

“As our customers’ businesses expand globally, they want to continue to use the Lightpath service that they know and trust,” Dave Pistacchio, president of Lightpath, said in a statement. . “Following our connection to the NJFX facility, we’re able to expand the universe of customers we can serve, helping them develop secure, reliable and high-speed connectivity to key media and financial destinations throughout the world.”

Lightpath’s fiber network in the NY metro covers more than 7,000 lit locations in the region.  Lightpath parent Cablevision is in the process of being acquired by Altice.

Lightpath, the Cablevision Systems unit that provides Ethernet-based telecommunication and managed cloud services for New York metro area businesses, has promoted Joseph Flynn to SVP of sales, where he’ll head up day-to-day efforts for all sales functions.

Flynn joined Lightpath in 2001 as a major account manager, serving the company’s healthcare customers. In 2007, he became director of sales for government, education and healthcare, and was later promoted to director of sales for Long Island. Before his promotion to senior vice president, he was regional vice president of sales for Long Island, Westchester and New Jersey.

“As telecom needs grow in complexity and demand for managed services surges, it is critical for our organization to get right to the heart of exactly what customers need to be successful today and in the future,” said Dave Pistacchio, president, Lightpath, in a statement. “Joe has been instrumental in evangelizing for the entire sales organization the importance of understanding each customer’s story in order to best meet their changing needs. His deep experience serving Lightpath customers, continued success leading our sales teams and passion for connecting with customers makes him the ideal fit to drive our ongoing sales activity.”

Lightpath operates a fiber network extending more than 5,800 route miles and connecting more than 7,000 fiber-lit locations. The unit generated net revenues of $87.9 million in the third quarter of 2014, up 6.3% versus the year-ago period.