Google Fiber, now officially called GFiber, is being sold to private equity firm Stonepeak and will be combined with cable-and-fiber firm Astound Broadband to create a larger Internet service provider.
Google owner Alphabet announced Wednesday that it will keep only a minority stake in the fiber ISP that launched with grand ambitions in 2012 but scaled back its expansion plans in 2016. Alphabet and Astound owner Stonepeak announced “an agreement to combine GFiber with Astound Broadband, creating a leading independent fiber provider,” with the merged company to be “majority owned by Stonepeak, an investment firm specializing in infrastructure and real assets.”
The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions, with an expected closing date in Q4 of this year. The sale price was not disclosed. The deal will help GFiber take “a major step toward its goal of operational and financial independence” and obtain the “external capital and strategic focus needed to accelerate its next phase of growth,” the announcement said.
It’s unclear whether the combined firm will be called GFiber, Astound, or something else. “The combined business will be led by the existing GFiber executive team, utilizing their expertise in high-speed fiber innovation to manage the combined network footprint,” the announcement said. “The combination of GFiber’s high-growth metropolitan networks with Astound’s established infrastructure, team and capabilities creates a highly complementary, national network platform.”
Alphabet President and Chief Investment Officer Ruth Porat said the merger will let GFiber reach more parts of the country “while continuing to provide their award winning customer experience.” The announcement said that Alphabet maintaining a minority stake “reflect[s] its confidence in GFiber’s growth opportunity and leadership.” Stonepeak Senior Managing Director Andrew Thomas said that Stonepeak “look[s] forward to supporting the company with Alphabet as a co-investor.”
Over 7 million cable and fiber locations
Astound is already the product of industry consolidation via a series of private equity deals that combined Wave Broadband, RCN, and Grande Communications. A research note from the New Street analyst firm said GFiber offers service at 2.8 million locations in 15 states, while Astound’s service area has 4.45 million locations in 12 states and the District of Columbia. Most of Astound’s network is cable broadband, but it has 892,014 fiber locations and 44,548 copper locations.
“Put together, the two companies pass ~7.1 [million] locations in 26 states,” the research note said. “The two companies overlap in only three counties in Texas (109k locations). Texas and Illinois will have the largest footprint for the combined entity. Cable and Fiber will cover an almost equal share of locations for the combined company.”
The combined GFiber/Astound company will face competition in most of its territory from at least one cable or fiber/copper provider. That includes AT&T at 53 percent of locations, Comcast at 46 percent of locations, Charter at 43 percent of locations, Verizon at 22 percent of locations, and Lumen (CenturyLink) at 11 percent.
New Street said there are unanswered questions, such as whether the combined company will continue to expand into areas served by existing cable and fiber operators, and whether it will upgrade its own cable footprint with fiber.
GFiber offers service in Texas, North Carolina, Missouri, Utah, Kansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Iowa, California, Arizona, Nebraska, Idaho, Colorado, and South Carolina. Astound is in Illinois, Texas, New York, California, Washington, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, Oregon, Maryland, Indiana, Virginia, and New Jersey.
Texas, North Carolina, Missouri, Utah, and Kansas account for about 78 percent of GFiber locations, according to New Street’s data. Illinois, Texas, New York, California, and Washington together account for about 72 percent of Astound’s locations.
