GTCR’s RBI Completes Acquisition of Southeast Texas Cable Provider

Rural Broadband Investments, a portfolio company of GTCR, said Thursday that it has closed its buy of McDonald Cable. No financial terms were disclosed. RBC Capital Markets served as exclusive financial advisor to RBI and GTCR for the transaction. An affiliate of McDonald Group, McDonald Cable is a cable provider that currently serves over 9,000 customers in Southeast Texas.

PRESS RELEASE

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Rural Broadband Investments (“RBI”) today announced it has simultaneously signed and closed the acquisition of McDonald Cable (“McDonald”), an affiliate of McDonald Group. The acquisition comes shortly after RBI’s initial platform investment in NewWave Communications (“NewWave”) and follow-on purchase of Cable Management Associates (“CMA”).
McDonald’s footprint encompasses over 30,000 homes and McDonald serves over 9,000 customers in Southeast Texas. Since April, RBI has made three acquisitions in an effort to build a platform of 300,000-400,000 cable subscribers in small-to-mid sized rural markets. RBI now serves over 130,000 customers and passes more than 400,000 homes in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Nevada.
“McDonald is an excellent add-on to our Southeast Texas footprint,” said Phil Spencer, CEO of Rural Broadband Investments. “We intend to upgrade these systems to DOCSIS 3.0, which will allow us to offer faster and more reliable internet service. This will give us an exceptional opportunity to better serve McDonald’s customers and increase penetration of high-speed internet services as well as advanced commercial services. We look forward to adding the McDonald employees to our team.”
RBI is a portfolio company of leading private equity firm GTCR, and is owned by GTCR and RBI management.
Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel and PriceWaterhouseCoopers served as accounting advisor to GTCR. RBC Capital Markets acted as exclusive financial advisor to RBI and GTCR.
About GTCR
Founded in 1980, GTCR is a leading private equity firm focused on investing in growth companies in the Financial Services & Technology, Healthcare and Information Services & Technology industries. The Chicago-based firm pioneered The Leaders Strategy™ – finding and partnering with management leaders in core domains to identify, acquire and build market-leading companies through transformational acquisitions and organic growth. Since its inception, GTCR has invested more than $10 billion in over 200 companies. For more information, please visit www.gtcr.com.
About Rural Broadband Investments
Rural Broadband Investments, headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, acquires and invests in rural-focused cable systems serving residential and commercial customers in small-to-middle sized markets and rural geographies. For more information, please visit www.ruralbroadbandinvestments.com.