WaveDivision Holdings today announced that Oak Hill Capital Partners and GI Partners, in conjunction with Chief Executive Officer Steve Weed and other members of Wave management, have entered into an agreement to acquire the company from its current owners, led by Sandler Capital Management. “Steve Weed and the Wave management team have built an outstanding organization, with highly advanced networks, strong operations, a robust suite of products and exceptional customer service. We are looking forward to working with them as they continue to set the standard in the markets they serve,” said Jonathan Friesel, a Partner of Oak Hill Capital.
Formed in 2003 by Mr. Weed and Sandler Capital Management, Wave owns and operates broadband cable systems that deliver advanced video, high-speed data and voice services to residential and commercial customers in the suburban markets of Seattle, San Francisco, Sacramento and Portland, passing more than 586,000 homes and serving approximately 385,000 revenue generating units. WaveDivision Holdings is headquartered in Kirkland, WA and operates under two retail brand names – Wave Broadband (www.wavebroadband.com) and Astound Broadband (www.astound.net).
“We are extremely pleased to be partnering with Oak Hill Capital and GI. Both firms bring value-added expertise and impressive track records of successful investments in our industry. Their insight and support will be invaluable as we continue to provide our communities with the highest levels of product quality, speed and customer care available. On behalf of Wave, I would also like to thank the entire team at Sandler Capital for a decade of successful partnership,” said Mr. Weed.
Oak Hill Capital Partners is a private equity firm with more than $8 billion of committed capital from entrepreneurs, endowments, foundations, corporations, pension funds and global financial institutions. Robert Bass is the lead investor. Over a period of more than 24 years, the professionals at Oak Hill Capital Partners and its predecessors have invested in more than 70 private equity transactions. The firm is located in Stamford, CT (www.oakhillcapital.com).
GI Partners is a trans-Atlantic investment firm that focuses on control-oriented investments in asset-backed businesses and properties located in North America and Western Europe. Sectors of interest include asset-backed IT services, specialist healthcare and education, leisure, commercial real estate, hospitality, retail and financial services. Since inception, the firm has secured $8.4 billion of capital commitments on behalf of recognized institutional private equity and real estate investors in the US, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The firm was founded in 2001 and is based in Menlo Park, CA with offices in London, UK and Munich, Germany (www.gipartners.com).
RBC Capital Markets and Waller Capital are serving as financial advisors to Wave on the transaction, and Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo are serving as financial advisors to Oak Hill Capital.
