Cincinnati Bell (NYSE:CBB) and Brookfield Infrastructure (NYSE:BIP) announced an agreement through which Brookfield Infrastructure and its institutional partners will acquire Cincinnati Bell in a transaction valued at approximately $2.6 billion, including debt.
Pursuant to the agreement, each issued and outstanding share of Cincinnati Bell common stock will be converted into the right to receive $10.50 in cash at closing of the transaction. The transaction price of $10.50 per share of Cincinnati Bell common stock represents a 36% premium to the closing per share price of $7.72 on December 20, 2019 and an 84% premium to the 60-day volume weighted average price. The transaction has received unanimous approval of Cincinnati Bell's board of directors and is subject to customary closing conditions, including Cincinnati Bell shareholder approval and regulatory approval.
Lynn A. Wentworth, chairman of the Cincinnati Bell board, said: "After thoroughly reviewing a range of strategic alternatives and possible business opportunities for maximizing value, the board determined this transaction was in the best interest of the company, its shareholders, and its customers. The transaction provides clear and immediate value at an attractive premium and represents an exciting new chapter for Cincinnati Bell."
Leigh Fox, president and CEO of Cincinnati Bell, said: "The transaction strengthens our financial position, enabling accelerated investment in our strategic products that is not presently available to Cincinnati Bell as a standalone company. This will allow us to drive growth and maximize value over the long term to the benefit of all our stakeholders. With Brookfield Infrastructure's support, we will be better positioned to deliver next generation, integrated communications for our customers through an expanded fiber network. Brookfield Infrastructure provides strong industry expertise with a proven track record of investment in critical data service and infrastructure. The financial, management, and other resources made available to Cincinnati Bell through the acquisition will enhance our networks and services to the benefit of our customers in Hawaii, Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, and across the nation."
Sam Pollock, CEO of Brookfield Infrastructure, said: "This investment represents an opportunity for Brookfield Infrastructure to acquire a great franchise and leading fiber network operator in North America. We are excited to leverage our operating expertise to work with the company's management team as it completes its industry-leading fiber-optic rollout plan. Cincinnati Bell is a great addition to our data infrastructure portfolio, and we expect it will contribute strong utility-like cash flows with predictable growth."
Cincinnati Bell owns and operates data transmission and distribution networks in Cincinnati, OH, and Hawaii, with a footprint of more than 1.3 million homes, delivering fiber broadband, video and voice services to residential and enterprise customers. The business is upgrading its network to fiber, which will be critical to support the growing demand for data and the advent of 5G. Thus far, Cincinnati Bell has upgraded 50% of its network, representing more than 17,000 miles of dense metro and last-mile fiber and has plans to further upgrade its network over the next few years. The ongoing fiber upgrade is intended to allow Cincinnati Bell to provide utility-like services for broadband and data to generate stable and growing cash flows.
Brookfield Infrastructure is a global company with a portfolio of assets in the utilities, transport, energy and data infrastructure sectors across North and South America, Asia Pacific and Europe.
The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2020.
