Court Square Capital Partners – along with participation by the existing senior management team – will lead an equity investment that will result in the purchase of a majority interest in Conterra Ultra Broadband Holdings.
The transaction includes the acquisition of stakes owned by the company's current institutional shareholders, including affiliates of Goldman Sachs, Duke Energy and GE Capital.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
This investment will bolster Conterra's expansion of its broadband network operations on a national basis in order to capitalise on the growing demand for high-capacity, carrier-class bandwidth services by the company's customers in the wireless carrier, education, municipal government and enterprise sectors.
Under the leadership of Conterra's chairman and chief executive Steve Leeolou, the company's existing management team will remain in place and partner with Court Square to drive the next phase of the company's growth.
"We look forward to working alongside our new partners at Court Square to continue to provide the industry leading technical expertise and service quality that our customers have come to expect," says Leeolou. "Court Square has significant experience financing and investing alongside management teams in high-growth companies within the communications infrastructure arena, which we expect will be brought to bear to help expand our market opportunities and enhance our current business momentum.”
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2014, following the satisfaction of customary closing conditions including required regulatory approvals. The agreements have been approved by Conterra's board of directors and by Court Square.
The Bank Street Group served as Conterra's exclusive financial advisor. Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough serves as legal counsel to Conterra in connection with this transaction. Dechert serves as legal counsel to Court Square.
