Consolidated Communications Holdings to be acquired by two private-equity firms

Consolidated Communications Holdings Inc. (CNSL) said Monday it agreed to be taken private by affiliates of Searchlight Capital Partners LP and British Columbia Investment Management Corp in an all-cash deal that values the Mattoon, Ill.-based broadband company at $3.1 billion. Consolidated Communications said the two private-equity firms will pay $4.70 a share for the roughly 66% of the company's stock that they do not already own. The purchase price values the company at a 70% premium to its closing price on April 12, the last trading day prior to the submission of Searchlight and BCI's initial non-binding proposal to the company's board of directors. The proposed transaction has been unanimously approved by a special committee of independent and disinterested directors of the company's board. The deal is expected to close by the first quarter of 2025. The company's stock closed at $3.53 a share on Friday, and is down 1.4% in 2023, compared to a 28.1% jump by the Nasdaq over the same time period.

-Steve Gelsi

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10-16-23 0824ET

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