Former Charter Communications Inc. CEO Jerry Kent will take over management of
Classic Communications Inc., a rural cable operator that recently emerged from
Chapter 11.
Kent's equity fund, CEQUEL III, agreed to invest an undisclosed amount into
Classic, take over management and relocate its headquarters from Texas to Kent's
home base of St. Louis.
Classic is controlled by Oaktree Capital Management LLC, which acquired chunks of
Classic's debt, then converted it into equity as it completed the Chapter 11
process.
Classic, the 12th-largest cable operator, owns systems serving
325,000 subscribers in 10 states including Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma and
Missouri.
Most of the properties are small, rural systems spread out widely and in need
of rebuilds.
The lack of channel capacity made Classic's systems easy targets for the direct-broadcast satellite
services, and the company has too much debt to handle the fight.
Kent left Charter in 2001, several months before the company became embroiled
in controversy over its operations and accounting practices.
