Macquarie Group (OTCPK: MQBKY), the Sydney, Australia-based global financial services company, is exploring strategic options including a sale for Altafiber, the telecommunications carrier formerly known as Cincinnati Bell, BNN Bloomberg reported. Macquarie acquired and took Altafiber private in 2021 through its Macquarie Infrastructure Partners V fund, after topping a previous offer from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE: BIP).
The firm is working with advisers on options for Altafiber, which could sell for over $5 billion, according to sources familiar with the situation. Macquarie could begin formally soliciting interest in the company in the new year, sources added. Altafiber’s fiber network spans 16,000 miles in the Midwest, including in Cincinnati. Last month, the fiberco unveiled plans to expand its regional fiber network in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.
Altafiber could attract interest from strategic buyers, and private equity firms, although no ‘next step’ decisions have been made, according to Bloomberg. A deal would follow a series of transactions involving major U.S. mobile network operators acquiring fiber network assets to offer converged wireless and broadband services and add capacity for customers’ surging data use. Inside Towers reported on: Verizon (NYSE: VZ) acquiring Frontier (NASDAQ: FYBR); T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) in a JV with KKR & Co. (NYSE: KKR) to buy Metronet; and, BCE’s (NYSE: BCE) Bell Canada buying Ziply Fiber.
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