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. ■

WideOpenWest (WOW), the largest overbuilder in the country with about 800,000 customers, said it will lay off about 270 employees, or about 9% of its 3,000-member workforce, in an effort to improve its position for future growth.

“The reduction in force affects all WOW functions and locations,” WOW! said in a statement. “The company is making this change to compete more effectively and better position itself for future growth.” The layoffs are expected to continue through early next year, according to reports.

News of the layoffs – first reported in the Lawrence, Kans., Lawrence Journal-World – come just days after the overbuilder said it would raise prices in some areas by as much as $15-$20 per month on Jan. 1, including the implementation of a  $2-per-month sports surcharge fee, a $1-per-month local origination programming fee and a $5-a-month broadcast TV fee, according to the Journal-World.

WOW is owned by private equity group Avista Capital Partners. The company, which announced a management succession plan in April, where chairman and CEO Colleen Abdoulah turned over the CEO reins to president Steve Cochran CEO while retaining the board chair title. Also at that time, chief marketing officer Cathy Kuo was promoted to chief operating officer.

WOW had been one of the more successful overbuilders – in 2012 it paid $1.6 billion for Georgia-based overbuilder Knology – but recently has hit some bumps in the road. Third quarter revenue was $323.2 million, an 8.7% increase over the prior year but cash flow fell 2.2% to $109.9 million. In June the company sold systems in Sioux City, S.D. and Rapid City, S.D with about 53,000 customers to Clarity Telecom or about $262 million.

According to SEC documents – privately held WOW has some public debt – WOW had about 816,000 total customers -- 654,000 video customers, 730,000 high-speed data customers and 374,000 phone customers as of Sept. 30.